Government must implement statutory poverty target following CSO statistics
Labour Party TD and spokesperson on social protection Mark Wall has today called for government to implement a statutory poverty target following the lack of progress in reducing the percentage of people living in enforced deprivation.
Enforced deprivation is defined as being where a household is unable to afford two or more of 11 basic deprivation items, such as a warm waterproof coat or new clothes, which are considered to be the norm for other households in society.
Deputy Wall made the comments following the Central Statistics Office today publishing figures on enforced deprivation for 2024.
The figures show that enforced deprivation overall decreased from 17.3% in 2023 to 15.7% in 2024. However, there has been very little progress made among those aged under 18, single-adult households with children and people with long-standing health problems.
Figures among young people under 18 decreased by just 0.2% from 21.4% to 21.2%, while increases were recorded among single-adult households with a child under 18 from 41.4% and 46.3%. The figure among those unable to work due to long-standing health problems increased by more than double from 4% to 9.7%.
Deputy Wall said:
“While overall figures show a decrease in the percentage of people in enforced deprivation, there is a real lack of progress being made by government among vulnerable cohorts.
“A meagre 0.2 increase amongst young people is appalling in a modern, rich society like Ireland. We are also in a situation where for some groups like single-adult households with children and those with long-term health issues things are getting much worse, with the percentage in enforced deprivation actually increasing in 2024.
“We need a real concerted effort by government to tackle the root causes of poverty, not just more lip service to their plight.
“Upon assuming the office of An Taoiseach in 2023, Leo Varadkar established a child poverty and wellbeing office. This is of little solace to the many children struggling with increased costs.
“If this government is serious about tackling poverty, it must consider implementing a Poverty Act that places poverty targets on a statutory footing and makes poverty proofing legally binding.
“We also need to see government, at a minimum, set social welfare rates at 27.5% of average earnings with the ambition to work towards benchmarking rates at the Minimum Essential Standard of Living to ensure households stay above the poverty line.”