Budget 2015 and Public Investment in Social Housing
There are over 90,000 people on the waiting list for social housing. This level of demand for a basic need required a substantial investment in housing, and, in this regard, Budget 2015 was a significant first step. The headline investment of €2.2 billion over the coming three years to provide 10...
Deprivation Trends Highlight Living standards Impact on Recession
Indicator 5.1 in the latest edition of the NERI’s Quarterly Economic Facts document tracks trends in poverty and deprivation in the Republic of Ireland from 2004 to 2012 – the latest year where data is available. Overall it reflects a decrease in poverty levels to 2009 before these began to increase...
Fact of the week: long term unemployment share
As shown in the latest Quarterly Economic Facts , the long term unemployment share gives the number of people that have been looking for work for 12 months or more as a proportion of the total number of people unemployed. The rate in the Republic of Ireland has risen sharply in recent years, over...
Monday Blog: Getting our priorities right
A curious feature of public debate in the run-up to Budget 2015 in the Republic of Ireland next month is the extent of focus on reducing income tax for the top 20% of workers (those paying the top income tax rate). These account for just under 400,000 persons at work and make up 18% of all tax cases...
Youth unemployment and changes to Jobseeker's Allowance
Currently, there are 24 unemployed people for every job vacancy. This is a problem for everyone looking for work, but makes it particularly difficult for young people who tend to have less work experience. Budget 2014 reduced Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) to recipients less than 26 years of age. The...
Monday Blog: Researching the macro-economic impact of the Living Wage
The idea of a ‘living wage’ is gathering momentum in many parts of the world. It is conceived and measured as a wage rate which is adequate to meet the needs of workers and their families in a given society at a given time. But affordability of life for workers is one thing – what about...
Latest Data on the Vacancy Rate
The ratio of unemployed people to job vacancies is a measure of the extent of labour market tightness—the higher the ratio, the less opportunity unemployed individuals have to find employment. The current rate in Ireland is 24 people for every job vacancy available. This suggests the economy is...
Monday Blog: Youth labour market still in recession
The week gone by brought some mixed news in regards to wages and employment trends in the Republic of Ireland. The recovery in total estimated employment from about the end of 2012 has continued into 2014 but at a much reduced pace. At the same time, wages are dropping slightly on average (before...
How much tax do people really pay
How much Tax do people really pay? Too often considerations of the taxation system are focused on income taxes, or income related taxes like social insurance; a narrow perspective given the composition of taxation revenue received by the exchequer. Indeed, the oft-cited phrase ‘taxpayers’ is...
Ireland’s Low Pay Problem: time for a Living Wage
Ireland joined a growing international living wage movement in July when the Living Wage Technical Group launched the 2014 Living Wage. In principle, a living wage is intended to establish an hourly wage rate that should provide employees with sufficient income to achieve an agreed acceptable...