Income Distribution

More than 790,000 people are living in poverty in Ireland, of which over 250,000 are children

Tuesday, 19 December 2017

The CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions has been published. It shows that despite some small improvements in poverty and deprivation rates, more than 790,000 people are living in poverty in Ireland, of which over 250,000 are children. These figures are unacceptable in a rich, developed country like Ireland.

Universal Basic Income - an idea whose time has almost come

Friday, 15 September 2017

Social Justice Ireland's work on developing a Universal Basic Income for Ireland was acknowledged by Noel Whelan in his op-ed article in The Irish Times on September 15, 2017.

The gap between Ireland’s minimum wage and the living wage has major implications for living standards

Monday, 11 September 2017

Ireland’s National Minimum Wage does not allow people to live what is considered a minimum socially acceptable standard of living in Ireland, and the planned increase in 2018 will not do much to change that. The high proportion of workers earning below the Living Wage is the focus of Issue 5 of the Employment Monitor.

National Social Monitor 2017

Monday, 4 September 2017

The National Social Monitor is Social Justice Ireland’s annual contribution to the public debate that is needed on Ireland’s future and how Ireland is performing in terms of promoting the wellbeing of all in society. It examines progress in areas such as housing, healthcare, education, employment, rural development and the environment among others.

Social Justice Ireland calls for EU-wide Basic Income system

Wednesday, 7 June 2017

Social Justice Ireland has called for the introduction of an EU-wide Basic Income system.

Invitation to present to UN Expert Group

Tuesday, 6 June 2017

Sean Healy, Director of Social Justice Ireland, was invited by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs to be part of an Expert Group Meeting on “Strategies for Eradicating Poverty to Achieve Sustainable Development for All” which was held at the United Nations in New York in May 2017. This Expert Group Meeting was organised to make specific policy recommendations on effective strategies for eradicating poverty in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including lessons from the implementation of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-2017).

Ireland needs a new and radical social contract

Tuesday, 18 April 2017

Ireland’s social contract is broken. The legitimate expectations of citizens are not being met. This is most obvious in areas such as housing and homelessness, a two-tier healthcare system, an ongoing failure to provide rural broadband and high levels of poverty and social exclusion, especially among children. 2017 is the first year of a new century for Ireland and now is the perfect opportunity to develop a new and radical social contract for Ireland’s second century.

Median incomes increase but numbers in poverty still worrying

Wednesday, 1 February 2017

The CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions has been published. It shows that despite an increase in median incomes 789,855 people are living in poverty in Ireland today. Of this number 245,645 are children under the age of 18. Despite the increase in median incomes and other signs of economic recovery these figures show that a significant proportion of the population is still living in very difficult circumstances. These figures are unacceptable in a developed Western economy.

100,000 people trapped in underemployment – headline employment figures mask worrying trends

Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Over 100,000 people are currently working part-time hours, but would take full-time employment if they could find it. This figure has increased by 25 per cent since 2008 and points to a worrying employment trend in Ireland. This is one of the key findings from Social Justice Ireland's latest Employment Monitor. Some of this part-time work gives rise to increased dependency on state income supports.

A New Social Contract for a New Century - Executive Summary

Sunday, 1 January 2017

The executive summary of Social Justice Ireland's Socio-Economic Review 2017 'A New Social Contract for a New Century' is available below.