The Programme for a Partnership Government included a commitment to develop a process of budget and policy proofing as a means of advancing equality, reducing poverty and strengthening economic and social rights. The recent ESRI report “The Gender Impact of Irish Budgetary Policy” is a valuable contribution which will further inform this process.
In terms of the findings, the report is based on two research assumptions: one where couples’ incomes are shared and the other where their income is treated separately. It is under the latter assumption that women who are not in paid work were found to have lost more than men who were not in paid work. The report states that this was mainly due to changes in the child benefit payment during the recession and the initial post-recession period. However, the report noted that this assumption (that couples do not share income) is somewhat extreme as it is more likely that couples do share a large proportion of their income.
The report also noted that there were no differences in terms of gains or losses to disposable income for single men and women or men and women in couples without children. Men and women in couples with children were also found to experience the same gains and losses, assuming that they shared their income.
The report notes that the main causes of the different gender impacts of budgetary policy are based on the economic activity of the individual and the presence of children. Therefore, the gender differences over the period in question were more likely to have arisen due to the fact that women are more likely than men to be lone parents, to be economically inactive and to benefit more from child-related supports.
In recent years, with the improvement in the fiscal situation, the Government has been in a position to introduce a range of welfare increases from 2016 onwards. This includes a package of measures to support lone parents, encouraging them into the workplace and into education and helping to reduce their childcare costs.
Most recently Budget 2019 included measures specifically targeting families, including lone parent families. These included a €5 weekly increase to working age payments, including the One Parent Family payment and the Jobseekers Transition payment; increases to the qualified child allowance of €2.20 per week for children under 12 years of age and €5 per week for children over 12; additional increases to the earnings disregard for the One Parent Family payment and the Jobseekers transition payment (to €150 per week); an increase in the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance for both primary and secondary school children and an increase in the Christmas Bonus to 100%.
My Department is currently preparing the annual Social Impact Assessment on the range of tax and welfare measures included in Budget 2019. It is an evidence-based methodology which estimates the likely distributive effects of policies on household incomes, families, poverty and access to employment. This year, it will also include gender analysis.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
