Vol. 576 No. 1
333 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the specific area of child poverty with which her views do not coincide with those of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul; if it is the 300,000 living in poverty; and if so, the number she views as living in relative or consistent poverty. [29074/03]
The figures quoted by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul are primarily based on an analysis undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Institute of the results of the Living in Ireland surveys. They relate to the "risk of poverty" indicator which is amongst the key common indicators adopted at EU level to facilitate cross-country analysis. The risk of poverty rate is defined by reference to an income threshold set at 60% of median income, adjusted for family size and composition using equivalence scales. The analysis undertaken by the ESRI indicates that in 2001, some 21.9% of persons had incomes which fell below that threshold while for children, the number was 23.4%. This equates to some 280,000 children. However, the measure which underpins the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS) is the consistent poverty measure, independently formulated by the ESRI. This combines low incomes and enforced deprivation, that is, below 50% to 60% of average disposable income and lacking at least one of a set of eight basic deprivation indicators. In 2001, the level of consistent poverty amongst children had fallen to some 6.5% or around 74,000 children.
Question No. 334 answered with Question No. 89.
