Thematic Report on Persistent Income Poverty and Deprivation in Ireland

This thematic report analyses how income poverty and material deprivation persistence changed between 2015 and 2023, taking into account fluctuations around the COVID-19 pandemic. Income poverty (or at-risk-of-poverty, AROP) is a relative measure that occurs when a household’s disposable income, after taking into consideration the household size and composition, is below 60% of the national median. Basic deprivation implies that individuals are living in households that cannot afford basic goods and services, such as adequate food, clothing, heating of the house, and basic social participation such as an occasional meal or drink out with family and friends. The Irish Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) cross-sectional data is used to analyse general trends between 2016 and 2023. And the SILC longitudinal data between pairs of years 2015-2016 and 2022-2023 is used to measure poverty dynamics, namely the share of people entering poverty (i.e., those who are not poor the first year they are surveyed but become poor by the second); exiting poverty (i.e., those who are poor the first year but no longer by the second); and in persistent poverty (i.e., those who are poor during the two consecutive years).