Recognising All Work | Social Justice Ireland

The scale and severity of the economic collapse fifteen years ago saw Ireland revert to the phenomenon of widespread unemployment. Despite the attention given to the banking and fiscal collapse, the transition from near full-employment to high unemployment was the most telling characteristic of that recession. It carried implications for individuals, families, social cohesion, and the exchequer’s finances, which were serious. At that time, the unemployment rate peaked at 16 per cent of the labour force in late 2011. Forecasts from the remainder of 2024 suggest that unemployment will reach an annual rate of between 4.2 and 4.3 per cent of the labour force in 2024.[1] While there remains potential for an economic slowdown, these rates sit near to historically low levels of unemployment. Similarly, relative to the position in late 2020 and early 2021 pandemic period, these outcomes represent a very welcome improvement.

Measuring the labour market

When considering terms such as ‘employment’ and ‘unemployment’ it is important to be as clear as possible about what we actually mean. Two measurement sources are often quoted as the basis for labour market data; the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Live Register.[2] The former is considered the official and most accurate measure of employment and unemployment, although it appears only four times a year. Given this, in recent years, the CSO have also provided a monthly unemployment estimate which represents an estimate of changes to the LFS measure based on trends indicated by the numbers on the Live Register. The CSO’s LFS unemployment data use the definition of ‘unemployment’ supplied by the International Labour Office (ILO). It lists as unemployed only those people who, in the week before the survey, were unemployed and available to take up a job and had taken specific steps in the preceding four weeks to find employment. Any person who was employed for at least one hour is classed as employed. By contrast, the live register counts everybody ‘signing-on’ and includes part-time employees (those who are employed up to three days a week), those employed on short weeks, as well as seasonal and casual employees entitled to Jobseekers Assistance or Benefit.

Labour force trends

The dramatic turnaround in the labour market after 2007 contrasts with the fact that one of the major achievements of the preceding 20 years had been the increase in employment and the reduction in unemployment, especially long-term unemployment. In 1991, there were 1,155,900 people employed in Ireland. That figure increased by over 1.5 million to peak at 2,682,700 in 2023. During early 2005, the employment figure exceeded two million for the first time in the history of the state – a figure once again exceeded during late 2014; the figure is likely to exceed 2.7 million people in the years immediately ahead. Overall, the size of the Irish labour force has expanded significantly and today equals just over 2.8 million people; 1.45 million more than in 1991 (see Chart 1). However, in the period after 2008 emigration returned, resulting in a decline in the labour force. Initially, this involved recently arrived migrants returning home but was then followed by the departure of native Irish. CSO figures indicate that during the final quarter of 2009, the numbers employed fell below two million and that the level continued to fall until achieving some growth in late 2013 / early 2014 (see Chart 1).

Chart 1: The Numbers of People in the Labour Force and Employed in Ireland, 1991-2023

Source: CSO, Labour Force Survey and QNHS various editions. Note: Data for April (1991-1997) and Q2 (1998 onwards).

As Charts 2 and 3 show, the period from 1993 was one of decline in unemployment. By late 2000, Irish unemployment reached its lowest level at 3.8 per cent of the labour force. Subsequently, the international recession and domestic economic crisis brought about increases in the rate. By 2006, unemployment had exceeded 100,000 on an annualised basis for the first time since 1999 with an average of 106,325 people recorded as unemployed in mid-2006. As Chart 2 shows, it exceeded 200,000 in early-2009, 300,000 in late-2009 and peaked at 356,000 in the third-quarter of 2011. The Covid-19 lockdowns caused further job losses with the numbers rapidly peaking and then declining again in 2020/21. Unemployment has since declined, reaching a figure of 118,000 in late 2023. The chart also highlights the trends in the number of long-term unemployed (those unemployed for more than 12 months). The CSO reports that there were 29,500 people in long-term unemployment at the end of 2022; a figure which is still higher than that recorded in the early 2000s.

Chart 2:The Numbers of Unemployed and Long-Term Unemployed in Ireland, 1991-2023

Source: CSO, Labour Force Survey and QNHS various editions. Note: Data for April (1991-1997) and Q2 (1998 onwards).

Chart 3: Rates of Unemployment and Long-Term Unemployment in Ireland, 1991-2023

Source: CSO, Labour Force Survey and QNHS various editions. Note: Data for April (1991-1997) and Q2 (1998 onwards).

Recognising All Work

A major question raised by the current labour-market situation concerns assumptions underpinning culture and policymaking in this area. The priority given to paid employment over other forms of work is one such assumption. Most people recognise that a person can be working very hard outside a conventionally accepted ‘job’. Much of the work carried out in the community and in the voluntary sector comes under this heading. So too does much of the work done in the home. Social Justice Ireland’s support for the introduction of a basic income system comes, in part, because it believes that all work should be recognised and supported.

During the 2008-2013 recession, Government funding for the Community and Voluntary sector reduced dramatically and this has not, as yet, been restored. It is essential that the Government appropriately resource this sector into the future and that it remains committed to the principle of providing multi-annual statutory funding. The introduction of the Charities Regulatory Authority, the Governance Code, and the Lobbying Register in recent years is intended to foster transparency and improve public trust. However, it is essential that the regulatory requirements are proportional to the size and scope of organisations, and do not create an unmanageable administrative burden which detracts from the core work and deters volunteers from getting involved.

In August 2019, the Department of Rural and Community Development published Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities: A Five-Year Strategy to Support the Community and Voluntary Sector in Ireland 2019-2024. The Strategy sets out the vision for community and voluntary sector development over five years. It contains a series of eleven policy objectives across all stakeholders, from Public Participation Networks to civil society organisations to local and national Governments. The Community Services Programme works to tackle disadvantage by providing supports to community-based organisations which enables them to deliver social, economic, and environmental services, with a particular focus on areas that, by virtue of geographical isolation or social isolation, have too low a level of demand to satisfy market led providers. The groups in receipt of these services may not otherwise have any access. Social Justice Ireland recommends that implementation of the five-year Strategy be resourced in a way that recognises the important role of the Community and Voluntary Sector, the local role of the PPNs, and the challenges of community development, and seeks to generate real partnerships between communities and agencies. We further urge Government to implement commitments in the National Volunteering Strategy 2021-2025, which has been developed in tandem with both the Community and Voluntary and Social Inclusion Strategies so as to ensure policy coherence across all three.

Social Justice Ireland believes that government should recognise, in a more formal way, all forms of work. We believe that everyone has a right to work, to contribute to his or her own development and that of the community and wider society. We also believe that policymaking in this area should not be exclusively focused on job creation. Policy should recognise that work and a job are not always the same thing.

[1] https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/budget/ - https://www.esri.ie/publications/quarterly-economic-commentary-spring-2…

[2] The LFS replaced the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) from Q3 2017. The QNHS ran from late 1997 to 2017. Prior to this the CSO conducted an earlier version of the LFS.