Thousands of households are surveyed ever year across Ireland for SILC, which is a household survey covering a broad range of issues in relation to income and living conditions.
SILC is the official source of data on household and individual income and provides a number of key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation.
People are selected at random to take part in this survey. The CSO conducts thousands of household and business surveys throughout the year on topics such as health, employment, well-being, and household finances, so we can all live in an informed society.
Households are selected at random to participate in surveys. Household surveys are not compulsory, but we would appeal to everyone who is contacted by the CSO to complete the survey as it ensures the survey is nationally representative and more reflective of the lives we live. No individual or household will ever be identified from our published data, and any information shared with us is treated with the highest level of confidentiality and is protected by law.
When the results from a new Census of population are published, previous population estimates are revised using the Census of Population as a benchmark. Any surveys that use population estimates or other Census data are also revised.
In line with Eurostat recommendations, SILC includes weighting of different household composition types – such as the number of adults and children in the household – to ensure the survey accurately reflects the population as a whole. The most accurate information on population and household types comes from Census. Following the publication of Census 2022, revisions have been made to the weighting of certain household groups in SILC to better reflect the population of individuals and household from Census. These revisions impact on previously released estimates from SILC of published average income, deprivation and poverty values. Tables 1a and 1b of the Information Note provide details of the revised values for years 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Estimates in today’s SILC publications and PxStat now reflect the revised SILC 2020, 2021, and 2022 statistics.
The CSO constantly seeks to improve the accuracy of its surveys by benchmarking them against the most up-to-date information available. This is in line with standard procedures for reviewing and updating statistical releases. Where updates are made, users are informed at the point of change and a full list of changes is provided.
The CSO constantly seeks to improve the accuracy of its surveys by benchmarking them against the most up-to-date information available. Census results provide the best benchmark for the population count. The data for household composition has now been revised using Census 2022 as a benchmark as the proportion of single person households had been overestimated in the intercensal period. To address this for future iterations of SILC, the CSO has changed its method of calculating benchmark estimates in the intercensal period.