Fifth of families delay paying bills to afford basics

By Seán McCárthaigh

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

One in 10 households has had to borrow money from family and friends in order to afford basic goods and services.

As a clear picture of the impact of austerity measures on ordinary people begins to emerge, the findings show a fifth of families have delayed paying their bills in order to meet everyday outgoings.

Results of a CSO survey also reveal most households have cut back since mid-2009 on a range of items including clothing and footwear and on socialising and foreign holidays.

Overall, 79% of households have reduced expenditure on at least one of eight categories identified by the CSO with 20% having made more than four cutbacks.
The results provide clear evidence of how the on-going economic recession has had a major negative effect on the lives of thousands of people.

Almost 30% of households with an unemployed adult have borrowed money from friends and families in recent years. Half of families have also missed paying bills and more than a quarter have missed loan repayments.

The CSO pilot study on 13,000 households entitled "Response of Households to the Economic Downturn" was carried out between April and June in 2011.

In the previous two years, many families had to dip into their "rainy day" funds with 45% having spent some or all of their savings, while 62% were forced to cut back on the amount they would normally put aside for savings.

Overall, one in 10 households had delayed or missed a loan repayment and credit card bill.

Other findings include:

* More than half of households have cut back spending on groceries and socialising.

* Two thirds have reduced expenditure on clothing and footwear.

* 15% of households have cut back spending on health insurance and 11% have reduced their pension contributions.

* One in 10 cut back on lessons or classes for either adults or children.

One in five households reported having made no cutbacks, with clear differences between some age groups with people aged over 55 years less likely to have made cutbacks than younger adults.

Two thirds of people aged under 35 had cut back expenditure on groceries compared to just 42% among people aged 55 or more.

Similarly, households with children and families with an unemployed adult are more likely to have cut back spending than the general population.

The CSO stressed it did not collect any information on the scale of cutbacks made by consumers.

On a regional basis, the findings highlighted how people in the West had made the most number of cutbacks, while families in Dublin’s commuter belt had made the fewest.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, February 15, 2012