RURAL HOUSEHOLDS need up to €109 a week more for essentials than city dwellers because of higher food and transport costs, according to a study.
Large numbers of rural dwellers cannot afford a minimum essential standard of living if they are on social welfare or the minimum wage, the study by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice found. In particular, female pensioners and single males living alone, and families with two children, were found to be struggling.
Rural households need between €70 and €109 more than their urban counterparts, depending on the type of family, to reach an essential minimum standard of living. When housing costs were excluded, the two biggest factors adding to costs in the country were cars and groceries, the study found.
Partnership director Sr Bernadette McMahon said rural families needed a car – or two where they had children – because of the lack of public transport. A lack of access to big supermarkets also increased costs for rural households. “If you’re not going to Tesco or Dunnes and no one is going to give you a lift there, then you’re going to pay more for your groceries,” she said.
In interviews with researchers, rural families were adamant that they needed two cars so that children could go to GAA and other activities. “The view was ‘mum’s taxi can be a banger but she needs the banger’.” Rural dwellers’ commitment to the local community also accounted for the premium on food costs, Sr McMahon also suggested. She said it was clear the national minimum wage and social welfare payments were arbitrary and not informed by what households need in order to have a minimum essential standard of living.
They were developed by negotiation between policymakers rather than a social consensus about what households needed.
The study estimates that a single adult working full-time in the country needs to earn €12.65 an hour for a basic standard of living. Two parents with two children would both need to earn €12.24 to reach an acceptable “living wage”.
She acknowledged that in rural areas childcare and social inclusion and participation were cheaper, but not sufficiently so to offset higher food and transport costs.
Prof John Monaghan, vice-president of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, said they were increasingly being contacted by families living “on the edge”. These were people who “pay for everything” and earned too much to qualify for social welfare but now found themselves in a “financial limbo” because of the recession.
According to the partnership, eight out of 16 different categories of household in rural areas achieved the essential minimum standard of living; in urban areas, 13 out of 16 categories did so.
Age Action Ireland welcomed the findings and said they revealed the problems of accessing services such as public transport and the economic cost attaching to different types of retail outlet. It also highlighted the importance of rural transport schemes and why they should be protected.
Urban rural divide: five case studies
Essential minimum standard of living for five household types (weekly)according to the study
Two parents and two children (aged three and 10)
Rural €551.56
Urban €442.95
Difference €108.61
Two parents and two children(aged 10 and 15)
Rural €653.10
Urban €552.56
Difference €100.54
One parent and two children (aged three and 10)
Rural €399.20
Urban €329.29
Difference €69.91
Pensioner couple
Rural €451.57 Urban
€345.58
Difference €105.99
Lone pensioner
Rural €347.16
Urban €257.88
Difference €89.28
