Written Answers. - Poverty Levels.
Dan Wallace
Question:
23
Mr. D. Wallace
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
his working definition of the poverty line; the estimated number of Irish persons living below this level; and the three main planned initiatives, if any, he has to reduce this number.
[10382/96]
Ivor Callely
Question:
102
Mr. Callely
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
his views of the appropriate measures to be adopted to make provision for providing social welfare payments in the decades ahead; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[10481/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 102 together.
The Government has taken a number of important initiatives to address income adequacy. First, child benefit was raised by 45 per cent over the last two budgets as it is clear that households with children face a relatively higher risk of poverty compared to many other groups in society. Second, the Government has approved the development of a national anti-poverty strategy which is to be put in place by the end of 1996.
Third, the Government has commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute to review the minimum adequate income rates recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare. The review is under way and will put forward new rates in the light of improvements in social welfare and other changes since the report of the commission was published. It will provide an objective basis for assessing the adequacy or otherwise of social welfare entitlements. The review, along with other reviews of the social welfare systems, such as that of the Expert Working Group on the Integration of Tax and Social Welfare, will form the basis for the formulation of proposals for improvements in the social welfare system in the years ahead.
The Government is committed to the maintenance and development of the social insurance system as a key part of its strategy for providing social welfare payments in the decades ahead.
There is no widely agreed definition of the "poverty line", even though the term is in widespread use. Living conditions vary from country to country at any one time and living patterns in any given country change over a period. For this reason, a standard of living which is considered adequate in one place or at one time could be considered inadequate at another time or in a different place.
There is widespread acceptance of the view that poverty should be seen in terms of the standard of living of the society in question. As a consequence, relative poverty lines have been put forward as a useful indicator of the extent of poverty in any given society at any point in time. However, they are more precisely an indicator of inequality rather than poverty.
The Economic and Social Research Institute has undertaken a considerable amount of technical research and analysis in this area. Results based on 1987 data show that approximately 31 per cent of households have an income at or below 60 per cent of mean household income, approximately 15 per cent of households have an income at or below 50 per cent of mean household income while approximately 5 per cent of households have an income at or below 40 per cent of mean household income. Results relating to 1994 income data will be available later this year. The usefulness of these analyses is not the percentages themselves, which depend on the lines one chooses, but rather the description of the groups at relatively greatest risk of poverty, and the changes over time as policies must be aimed at these groups.
