Earned income for people working for payment and profit in 2016 was higher as perception of health improved, see Figure 4.1. The median value for gross earned income per person with "very good" health was €27,579 compared to €11,700 per person who described their health as "very bad".
In contrast, the proportion of people who received any working age social welfare in 2016 decreased as perception of health improved. The proportion of those who received working age social welfare during 2016 and perceived their health as "very good" (24%) was less than half that of those who perceived their health as "very bad" (55%), see Figure 4.1.
Note that working age social welfare defined here excludes child benefit and the state pension. Earned income includes gross income from employment and self-employment only, before deductions and unadjusted for hours worked, see Background and Methodology for further details.
| General health | Median earned income | Proportion who received any working age social welfare |
|---|---|---|
| Very Bad | 11700 | 55.3 |
| Bad | 11587 | 58.7 |
| Fair | 18484 | 47.2 |
| Good | 24221 | 33.8 |
| Very good | 27579 | 23.6 |
People with a deafness or a serious hearing impairment had the highest median value for earned income at €21,270 per person with a disability in 2016. The lowest median earned income for those with a disability was €7,140 for persons with an intellectual disability, see Figure 4.2 below.
| Disability | Median earned income |
|---|---|
| Deafness or a serious hearing impairment | 21270 |
| A difficulty with pain, breathing, or any other chronic illness or condition | 21155 |
| Blindness or a serious vision impairment | 20004 |
| A psychological or emotional condition | 15835 |
| Difficulty participating in other activities, for example leisure or using transport | 14833 |
| A difficulty that limits basic physical activites such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting or carrying | 13249 |
| Difficulty dressing, bathing or getting around inside the home | 12153.5 |
| A difficulty with learning, remembering or concentrating | 11143 |
| Difficulty working at a job, business or attending school or college | 10263 |
| Difficulty going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctors surgery | 9259 |
| An intellectual disability | 7140 |
The proportion of medical card holders decreased as the perception of health improved in 2016. Persons who perceived their health as "very good" had the lowest proportion of medical card holders (25%), compared to 84% of people who perceived their health as "very bad", see Figure 4.3.
Note that "Medical Card Holders" included anyone (excluding GP Visit Card Holders) eligible under the General Medical Services Scheme on Census night in 2016, see Background and Methodology for further information.
| General health | Percent of medical card holders |
|---|---|
| Very Bad | 83.7 |
| Bad | 79.7 |
| Fair | 66.5 |
| Good | 41 |
| Very Good | 24.8 |
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the lowest proportion of medical card holders at 16.3%, followed by Fingal (25.1%) and Kildare (27.6%).
Nearly half (48.4%) of people in Donegal had a medical card in 2016, which was the highest proportion in Ireland. This was followed by Longford (44.5%) and Carlow (42.8%).
Map 4.1 and Table 4.1 show the proportion of medical card holders by county in 2016 while a more detailed breakdown is available at Electoral Division level in Map 4.2.
Link to interactive tables: PxStat
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