On November 7th 2022, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the Live Register figures for October 2022. There were 179,555 people on the Live Register, an increase of 13,884 people on the same month last year. Looking at the Register from a gender and age perspective: women account for 46.7% of the Live Register and young people account for 10.8%.
The number of people on the Live Register for less than one year increased by 32% to 117,295 people and of this figure: women account for 49.3% and young people 13%. 62,260 people were on the Register for more than a year: a decrease of 14,220 people in comparison to October 2021. Looking at this part of the Register from a gender and age perspective: women account for 41.7% and young people 6.6%.
A year ago, people on the Register for more than one year accounted for 46% of the number of people on the Live Register, in October 2022 this percentage had dropped to 35%. However, the CSO notes that “Taking the duration time on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) into account sees the proportion of short-term recipients drop to 60.6% and the proportion of long-term recipients increase to 39.4%.”
In Table A1 information is provided on the number of people ‘availing of Activation Programmes’. These figures always lag a month behind, and so in September 2022 there were 34,311 participants, 2,099 fewer people than September 2021. The number of people participating on education and training programmes was 7,804, a decrease of 21% over the year. The numbers of people on the SOLAS Full-time Training for Unemployed People were very similar in September 2022 and 2021. While the numbers of people on the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) increased by 4.4% to 1,624 participants. However, the numbers of people receiving the Back to Education Allowance fell by 46% to 2,024 in September 2022.
The number of people participating on employment programmes decreased by 1.7% to 26,507. Community Employment remains the largest programme with 18,575 participants in September 2022, a 2.4% decrease over the year. The next biggest programme is TÚS - Community Work Placement Initiative, with 4,658 participants, a decrease of 7.7% over the year. The third largest programme is the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance scheme: with 2,415 participants, an annual increase of 3.6%.
Amongst the smaller schemes, the Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP), which commenced in July 2021, has grown from 57 participants in September 2021 to 437 participants in September 2022. While participation on the Short-term Enterprise Allowance (STEA) increased by 30.6% to 307 participants. The STEA was introduced during the 2008 financial crisis and supports people on a Jobseeker’s Benefit payment who wish to start their own business.