One in five Irish people living in jobless households

ONE in five Irish people, the highest number in Europe, are living in jobless households.

Furthermore, austerity-led changes in the social welfare system could lead to high levels of basic deprivation, an EU-wide study (part of the first annual review of employment and social developments in Europe) warned.

Ireland has one of the greatest differences between high and low incomes in the EU but, up to last year, the tax structure and social transfers helped to even this out to a greater extent than in most other countries. The strong economic growth from the early 1990s led to a big improvement in living standards, when incomes almost doubled in just seven years.

However, the rise in household income was much less for the unemployed, so at-risk poverty numbers grew from 16% to 22%.

In the 2000s, the at-risk poverty numbers fell from 22% to 14%, due mainly to a big increase in social transfers. As a result, Ireland was placed 12th in the income inequality list.

With the status quo retained during the first years of the recession, total household income even increased by more than 3.5% between 2007 and 2009.

The at-risk poverty rate also continued to drop during this period, partly thanks to social transfers and partly due to the fact that, generally, incomes were dropping and with them the poverty line.