One in five at risk of poverty despite climate of prosperity

ONE in five of the population are at risk of poverty as the rich-poor divide in Irish society persists.

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 19% of the population have a weekly household income of €193 or less, which means they are considered at risk of poverty, while about a third of that group — 7% of the population — are considered to be in “consistent poverty”, which means they suffer deprivation on a day-to-day basis.

Those most likely to be in either the “at risk” or “consistent poverty” categories are one-parent families, the unemployed and the chronically ill. The latter are twice as likely to suffer consistent poverty than those in good health.