By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.

CSO data

Claim: Achieving

The at risk of poverty rate fell from 19.4% in 2004 to 14.1% in 2009, before increasing to 16.7% in 2014. The rate then fell over the following four years to stand at 14% in 2018.

By no metric is this a reduction in half as per target 1.2. They also do not disaggregate by sex and age as per indicators 1.2.1 and 1.2.2

Measuring what matters

In 2022, 13.1% of the population or 671,000 people were living below the poverty line (or were at risk of poverty) as they had an income that was less than 60% of the median disposable income, so €15,754 per annum or €301.91 per week. In terms of women: 13.2% were at risk of poverty, 19.1% were in enforced deprivation, 5.7% were in consistent poverty. For children: 15.2% were at risk of poverty, 19.9% were in enforced deprivation, and 7.5% were in consistent poverty.

In SILC 2022, 17.7% of the population or over 906,500 people were defined as living in enforced deprivation, i.e. cannot afford two or more of the eleven items considered essential. This compares with 13.8% in 2021. 9.5% were unable to afford new clothes (not second-hand) in 2022, up from 8.9% in 2021. 9.7% were unable to afford a morning, afternoon or evening out in last fortnight in 2022, up from 3.8% in 2021 7.2% were unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm in 2022, up from 3.2% in 2021. 1.4% were unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day in 2022 down from 1.6% in 2021 compared with 13.8% in 2021. Almost half (48.6%) of those who are unemployed were in deprivation as were 44.3% of those who were unable to work due to long-standing health problems and 43.5% of lone parent households.

The consistent poverty measure is defined as people who are both at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation. The consistent poverty rate in SILC 2022 was 5.3% or one in twenty of the population, up from 4% in 2021. This is over 271,500 people. The consistent poverty rate was highest among persons unable to work due to long-standing health problems (19.7%) and the unemployed (18.0%). The consistent poverty rate for those living in owner-occupied dwellings was 2.2% compared with 12.9% for those living in rented or rent-free accommodation. While less than 30% of the population are living in rented or rent-free accommodation, such people make up over 70% of those living in consistent poverty.

By age group, the largest year on year change in the at risk of poverty rate was in persons ages 65 or over, going from 11.9% in 2021 to 19.0% in 2022. The at risk of poverty rate for individuals in households with one adult and one or more children aged under 18 (one parent families) was 23.8%, compared with 13.1% of persons living in two adult households with 1-3 children.

Source: Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2022

By no metric is this a reduction in half as per target 1.2