Poverty reports - Every strata of society is culpable

One of the least attractive aspects of the public discourse provoked by radically changed economic circumstances is how very quickly and stridently some people focus on the cost of social welfare supports, supports that are ever more important to a great and increasing number of people.

Usually the subtext, often unspoken, is that the cost is unsustainable and that many of those benefiting have made a lifestyle choice. The criticism may not plumb the depths of the Dickensian dismissal of differentiating between the deserving or the undeserving poor but it can come pretty close.

Yesterday’s report from the Economic and Social Research Institute — ‘Social Transfers and Poverty Alleviation in Ireland’ — put the scale of the issue in context. The proportion of household income received through social welfare payments increased by a daunting 50% in seven years between 2004 and 2011. This very substantial increase goes some way to explaining why 40% of the Government’s budget — something north of €20bn — went on social welfare last year.