Public support for welfare and redistributive policies in Ireland
The current report presents findings of a research project that explored attitudes towards welfare and redistributive policies among Irish residents. Public support for the welfare state is an important foundation for democratic governments to pursue the policies needed to alleviate poverty in society. The study draws primarily on data from the European Social Survey (ESS), which is supplemented with information from the Election Survey.
Three in every four Irish residents indicate that they agree that the government should take measures to reduce differences in income. This proportion is slightly higher than the European average (71%) and the proportions in other northern European countries (Figure 2.1). Support for income redistribution is higher among females, those in the lowest income quintile and those from the unskilled and skilled manual social classes (Table 2.1). Young people and those born in Ireland, and those who place themselves to the left in terms of their political attitudes are also more supportive of redistribution.
To get behind these general sentiments around distribution, the study also explores the attitudes to more concrete welfare and tax policy, as well as ideological basis for redistribution. While the connection found between social position (e.g. low income) and support for redistribution might be explained by self-interest (i.e. the belief that greater redistribution would improve their own material conditions), there is also evidence that it is influenced by people’s views on fairness. In Ireland, perceptions about unfairness of the income of the rich is associated with support for redistribution as much as perceptions of how unfairly low the income of the poor is. In countries such as Norway and France, unfairly high incomes are more strongly associated with support for redistribution (Figure 3.6).
ATTITUDES TO SOCIAL BENEFITS
A high proportion of respondents in Ireland (64%) believe that social benefits prevent poverty (down slightly from 69% in 2009), but there was a small increase in the proportion of respondents who agree that ‘social benefits lead to a more equal society’ from 52 per cent in 2009 to 53 per cent 20161 (Figure 3.4). However, apart from these positive beliefs, there are also more negative sentiments, with 58 per cent believing that ‘social benefits make people lazy’. Younger people, those on the right of the left-right scale, and those with lower educational attainment are more likely to agree that social benefits make people lazy (Table 3.1). While that belief declined over time, Ireland has one of the highest proportions in Europe of respondents agreeing with this statement (Figure 3.5).
There is a higher level of support for government spending on older people and childcare for working families than there is for those who are unemployed. The same pattern is observed in most European countries but, in Ireland, the gaps between these three groups are significantly smaller. A third of respondents indicated that they would agree with higher taxes if it meant more or better public services. This is the sixth highest percentage across the 27 participant countries (Figure 3.7).
CHANGE OVER TIME
Over the period 2002 to 2023/4, support for redistribution in Ireland fluctuated around 75 per cent. Trends differ across social class groups. Support for income redistribution among the working class in Ireland is now at the highest level since 2002 (Figure 4.2). Events such as a government campaign focused on welfare fraud and budget announcements have a significant but short-lived impact on welfare attitudes (Figure 4.7) and support for redistribution (Figure 4.9). The impact of the pandemic is also visible. Those who experienced job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic are more supportive of redistribution, regardless of their financial situation (Figure 4.10), suggesting that the enhanced role of government in supporting incomes during that period boosted support for redistribution.
These findings suggest that there is a strong basis of support for government policies of redistribution; however, these are sensitive to framing, with a focus on fraud rather than citizens’ entitlements, leading to more negative sentiment about redistribution. Attitudes to welfare are also sensitive to trade-offs and perceived hierarchies of deservingness. Awareness of one’s own potential reliance on social benefits motivates support for redistribution but so does people’s sense of what is fair. Lessons from behavioural studies suggest that providing information to individuals about the extent of existing inequalities influences individual support for redistribution. These findings underscore the importance of governments addressing misperceptions related to welfare recipients and providing reliable information about inequalities in society.