ESRI: ‘20,000 households headed by unemployed adults’

Around 20,000 households in Ireland are headed by an unemployed adult, according to a report published today by the Government’s Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

The ESRI said the figure had fallen significantly in the past six years, but the level of so-called “work poor” households remained worryingly high.

It said single parents, the sick and the disabled were among the most likely groups to fall into the poverty trap and the Government should respond by introducing specific policies to get such people back into the workforce.