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Understanding Poverty

“People are living in poverty if their income and resources (material, cultural and social) are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living which is acceptable by Irish society generally. As a result of inadequate income and resources people may be excluded and marginalised from participating in activities considered the norm for other people in society.”

The definition above has been in use since its inception in the 1997 National Anti-Poverty Strategy, a plan that was introduced by the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrat coalition. This definition highlights that while poverty is about income, it is also associated with access to services, resources and outcomes for people who experience poverty and social exclusion.

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Measuring Poverty

There are two ways of measuring poverty levels in Ireland:

  • Relative/At Risk Of Poverty: According to the Combat Poverty Agency, “Relative income poverty is having an income that is less than what is regarded as the norm in society, giving a lower than normal standard of living. It is “relative” because it is measured by how much less it is relative to the income of the majority of people. It is usually expressed as a percentage figure, e.g. the 60% relative income poverty line is 60% of the disposable income of the average household.” This is the most common measure of poverty used across the EU, where it is often referred to as the ‘at risk of poverty’ level.
  • Consistent poverty: This is the poverty measurement preferred by the Irish Government and developed independently by the Irish Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). This measure identifies the proportion of people who are both relatively poor (less than 60% of median income) and who are also deprived of at least two of the 11 goods or services considered essential for a basic standard of living. The current 11 indicators are:
  1. Two pairs of strong shoes
  2. A warm waterproof overcoat
  3. Buy new not second-hand clothes
  4. Eat meals with meat, chicken, fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day
  5. Have a roast joint or its equivalent once a week
  6. Had to go without heating during the last year through lack of money
  7. Keep the home adequately warm
  8. Buy presents for family or friends at least once a year
  9. Replace any worn out furniture
  10. Have family or friends for a drink or meal once a month
  11. Have a morning, afternoon or evening out in the last fortnight, for entertainment

Poverty Targets

Ireland has no relative poverty target. The poverty target in Ireland’s National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 is “To reduce the number of those experiencing consistent poverty to between 2% and 4% by 2012, with the aim of eliminating consistent poverty by 2016.”