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Rethinking poverty in Ireland
Insights from current data and the path to better policy
HEALTH, CARE & SUPPORT
Susanne Rogers
Research and Policy Analyst, Social Justice Ireland
Susanne Rogers
Research and Policy Analyst, Social Justice Ireland
Issue 80 | October 2025
High rates of poverty and income inequality have been the norm in Irish society for some time. They are problems that require greater attention than they currently receive. Tackling these problems is a multifaceted task. It requires action on many fronts, ranging from healthcare and education to accommodation and employment.
However, the most important requirement in tackling poverty is the provision of sufficient income to enable people to live with dignity. No anti-poverty strategy can be successful without an effective approach to addressing low incomes.
How many people experience poverty in Ireland?
In trying to measure the extent of poverty, the most common approach has been to identify a poverty line based on people’s disposable income. The European Commission and the United Nations, among others, use a poverty line located at 60% of the median income.
The most recent data on poverty in Ireland comes from the 2024 Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and published in March 2025. It reported that 11.7% of the population were at risk of poverty, an increase from 10.6% in 2023.
To fully grasp the scale of Ireland’s poverty problem, it is useful to translate these percentages into numbers of people.
In 2024, 630,000 people lived below 60% of the median income poverty line. Looking over the past 30 years, despite a reduction in the headline poverty rate (from 15.6% to 11.7%), there are almost 70,000 more people in poverty (as the population has increased).
of the population of Ireland is at risk of poverty, an increase from 10.6% in 2023
number of people living below 60% of the median income poverty line
children were living in poverty in 2024
“The scale of child poverty is alarming and childhood experiences of poverty are linked with adverse outcomes across almost all areas of life.”
Who are they?
The group with the highest risk of poverty and some of the highest rates of deprivation are those who are unable to work due to long‐term illness or disability, many of whom incur extra related costs, thereby deepening poverty levels.
More than 106,000 older people struggled to make ends meet in 2024, an increase of 64% in a year. This stark figure highlights how vulnerable older people are due to their overwhelming reliance on a fixed income.
In 2024, more than 190,000 children in Ireland were living in poverty. The scale of child poverty is alarming and childhood experiences of poverty are linked with adverse outcomes across almost all areas of life.
The real value of money
The value of an income is what it buys you. Despite headlines proclaiming Budget surpluses and a country at full employment, more than 300,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills and, as of April 2025, 175,000 are behind on their gas bills.
The average rent has increased by 48% since early 2020 and we all know that a supermarket shop costs much more than it did four years ago. For those on a fixed income, the real value of their income has fallen substantially as a result of persistent price increases.
Social Justice Ireland believes in the very important role that social welfare plays in addressing poverty. As part of the SILC results, the CSO has provided an interesting insight into the role that social welfare payments play in tackling Ireland’s poverty levels and has calculated the levels of poverty before and after the payment of social welfare benefits.
Without the social welfare system, almost one-third of the Irish population (31.4%) would have been living in poverty in 2024. Such an underlying poverty rate suggests a deeply unequal distribution of direct income. In 2024, the actual poverty figure was reduced to 14.1% by social welfare transfers and further reduced by cost-of-living support payments to 11.7%.
Overall, these transfers, targeted at the lowest income households, reduced poverty by almost 20 percentage points. These findings underscore the importance of social transfer payments in addressing poverty, a point that needs to be borne in mind as the Government forms policy priorities.
Life on a low income is the norm for a large number of people in Ireland today. But it shouldn’t be. The government can change this trend and improve the standard of living for vulnerable households. The first step is setting adequate social welfare rates.
“Despite headlines proclaiming Budget surpluses and a country at full employment, more than 300,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills and, as of April 2025, 175,000 are behind on their gas bills.”
