Low Pay and the Living Wage
At a meeting earlier this week, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation focused on the topic of Low Pay and the Living Wage. In a contribution to the committee, I first outlined some context for their examination of these issues, before going into more detail on the concept...
Wealth in Ireland - at last some rebust data
Despite its prominence in various public policy discussions over recent years, detailed information on wealth in Ireland has been sparse. For the most part discussion on the distribution of wealth, and concepts such as a wealth tax, were based on hunches and guestimates or assumptions that the...
Monday Blog: Voilà la différence
As you ponder last Saturday’s match between France and Ireland you might consider some of the striking differences in both parts of the world. The culture, institutions and politics of France are very different to those in Ireland where, to some extent, the political culture has been shaped by the...
Annual Labour Market Conference: Call for Papers
NERI Labour Market Conference The NERI—in conjunction with Centre for Irish Business & Economic Performance , Queen’s University Management School— will host the third annual NERI Labour Market Conference on 1 May 2015. The event will be held in Riddel Hall, Queen's University Belfast. The...
Monday Blog: An even more modest proposal
Events on the European stage are moving fast as the new Greek Government continues to play a blinder on the question of European debt. The eyes of Europe and the world are on Greece. The stakes are very high and this could go very well or very badly for Europe as events and talks play out over the...
Work, Welfare, Taxes and Unemployment Traps
As the economic recovery takes root, there are welcome improvements in the levels of employment and continued decreases in unemployment. Looking across 2015, the latest NERI projections (December 2014) suggest employment growth of 2.1% this year with unemployment falling to 10.4%. As policy pursues...
Monday Blog: Riches and Poverty
Two statistical releases from the Central Statistics Office in recent weeks did not attract as much public attention as deserved. One report concerns trends and distribution of income ( EU Survey of Income and Living Conditions ) while the other concerns the level and distribution of wealth in...
Low Pay in Northern Ireland in 2014
In March of last year the NERI's Spring Quarterly Economic Observer analysed earnings and low pay across Northern Ireland. We highlighted the gender, age and geographical breakdown of low pay and the implications of these statistics for policymakers. In December of last year the latest figures from...
Monday Blog: The beginning of the unwinding of a European tragedy?
While the results of the general election in Greece are not known at the time of writing this Blog, it is clear that the tectonic plates of political affiliation and sentiment are shifting dramatically almost everywhere. The unthinkable suddenly becomes thinkable and the thinkable becomes irrelevant...
Pensioners and the Income Distribution
Pensioners (those aged 65 years and above) comprise almost 12% of the population of the Republic of Ireland. However, they are far from a homogeneous group, differing by health, wealth, income and marital status among other things. A new NERI Research inBrief, examines pensioners under just one of...