Most households on social welfare or the minimum wage do not have enough income to sustain a basic standard of living, new research suggests.
The Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice yesterday presented the results of research into the cost of sustaining a "minimum essential lifestyle" in modern Ireland.
The new method of measuring deprivation draws heavily on techniques used in Britain and US by assessing the affordability of a basic basket of good and services.
This basket includes day-to-day costs, such as food, clothing, fuel, childcare and mobile-phone bills, that were agreed by focus groups and experts. It excludes items such as debt repayment, pension contributions or bank charges.
The results show that weekly incomes for five out of six household types surveyed - such as lone-parent families, two-parent families, lone female pensioners, and single adult males - fell well short of a basic standard of living. The gap between the basic standard of living and weekly incomes varied by between €10 and €150.
The only group judged to meet a basic standard of living were pensioner couples on a contributory pension but without the cost of running a car.
The report warns that households that cannot cover day-to-day expenses will struggle to cope and many will become trapped in debt.
It makes a number of recommendations that, if adopted by the Government, would help ensure those on welfare or the minimum wage could meet their basic needs. These include:
r benchmarking social welfare and the minimum wage rate to an amount which delivers a basic standard of living;
r making tax credits refundable and increasing tax credits to help the "working poor";
r developing schemes that involve the participation of mainstream financial institutions to make it possible for low-income households to borrow money at more affordable rates;
r making childcare more affordable, especially for lower-income households;
r and providing access for single adults on low incomes to social housing by raising the rent cap to a realistic sum.
Sr Bernadette McMahon of the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice said the results of the research project showed for the first time the costs needed for a minimum essential lifestyle in modern Ireland.
"Our aim is to develop a standard rooted in social consensus, including input from the household themselves, about goods and services that everyone should be able to afford, while also drawing on expert knowledge about basic living requirements and expenditure patterns," she said.Research from the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice suggests many households on welfare or the minimum wage do not have a sufficient income for a basic standard of living.
r Two-parent household with children:
A two-parent household with two young children that is reliant on unemployment benefit needs at least €440 a week to sustain a "minimum essential lifestyle". At present such a household receives €383 a week, a gap of €57.
r Lone parents:
A lone parent dependent on social welfare with two older children needs €346 a week. At present she receives €278, a gap of €68.
r Single adult male:
A single adult male dependent on unemployment benefit needs €365 a week. His present income is €273, a gap of €92.
r Pensioner couple:
A pensioner couple on a contributory pension needs €340 a week for a minimum essential lifestyle. Such a couple receives around €365 a week at present.
r Lone female pensioner:
A female pensioner on the widow's non-contributory pensions needs €269 for a basic standard of living. Her present income is €212, a gap of €57.
