Poverty Indicators by Health Status - Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2022

Burden of Housing Costs and Arrears

In the annual Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), questions related to the financial burden of housing costs, the level of difficulty in making ends meet, and arrears on mortgage, rental and other bill payments are asked at the household level. In November 2022, the CSO published SILC Enforced Deprivation that analysed these variables by demographic and other characteristics.

Questions related to activity limitations (the presence of long-standing activity limitation due to health problems measured via the Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI)). are asked at the individual level of survey respondents aged 16 years and older. The Editor’s note in the Key findings section of this report describes the questions used to derive the GALI status of survey respondents aged 16 years and older.

In this chapter, the level of difficulty in making ends meet, the financial burden of housing costs, and arrears on mortgage, rental and utility bill payments are analysed by the presence of a person in the SILC household with a long-standing activity limitation. The disability status of the household is attributed according to the person aged 16 years and older with the most severe level of activity limitations.

Ability to Make Ends Meet

Households were asked to rate their level of difficulty in making ends meet, with the answer options being: ‘with great difficulty’; ‘with difficulty’; ‘with some difficulty’; ‘fairly easily’; ‘easily’ and ‘very easily’. In 2022, one in two households (50.8%) said they had at least some difficulty in making ends meet with 5.9% of households reporting that they make ends meet ‘with great difficulty’. Analysis by the presence of a household member (aged 16 years and older) with a long-standing activity limitation due to health problems shows that three in four (75.6%) households with a ‘severely limited’ member had at least some difficulty in making ends meet with 17.9% reporting ‘with great difficulty’. Of households without an activity limited member, 44.4% had at least some difficulty in making ends meet and 3.8% reported that they make ends meet ‘with great difficulty’. See Figure 4.1 and view Table SIH05 in PxStat.

Arrears on Mortgage, Rent and Utility bills

Households were asked if they had arrears (failed to make a payment in time due to financial difficulties) during the 12-month period prior to their date of interview. These questions related to arrears on mortgage or rental payments; utility bills; hire purchase instalments, or other loan payments. The three answer options for these questions were:

1. Yes, once
2. Yes, twice or more
3. No

Analysis of households owned with a mortgage or rented, where at least one household member was ‘severely limited’ shows that in the 12-month period prior to their date of interview, 2.0% of these households failed once and a further 17.5% failed twice or more to make their mortgage/rent payment on time. The comparable rates for households without limited members were 2.1% (failed once) and 4.1% (failed twice or more). See Figure 4.2 view Table SIH06 in PxStat.

In 2022 SILC, of households that pay utility bills (99.5% of all households), one in ten (9.9%) had arrears on utility bills at some time during the 12-month period prior to their date of interview, with 7.0% failing to make a utility bill payment by due date on two or more occasions. See SILC Enforced Deprivation 2022.

Analysis of utility bill arrears by the GALI status of households shows that one in five (20.5%) households with a ‘severely limited’ member had arrears (due to financial difficulties) on utility bills sometime in the 12-month period before they were interviewed. The comparable rate for households without limited members was 7.1%. In the 12-month period before they were interviewed, 4.9% of households with a ‘severely limited’ member fell into arrears on utility bill payments on one occasion, with a further 15.6% failing to make a utility bill payment by due date on two or more occasions. See Figure 4.3 and view Table SIH06 in PxStat.

In 2022, the percentage of households with a ‘severely limited’ household member that had arrears on utility bills at some time during the 12 month period prior to their interview date was four percentage points higher than the comparable rate for 2021 (20.5% and 16.5% respectively). In 2022, 15.6% of households with a severely limited member failed to make a utility bill payment by due date on two or more occasions, up from 12.4% in 2021. See Figure 4.4 and view Table SIH06 in PxStat.

Financial Burden of Housing Costs

Households were asked the extent to which housing costs (rent, mortgage, utility costs, home insurance, and regular maintenance and repair costs) are a financial burden to the household. The answer categories were ‘a heavy burden’; ‘somewhat a burden; ‘not a burden at all”. In 2022, over three in ten (31.1%) households said that housing costs were ‘a heavy burden’. Of households with a ‘severely limited’ member almost half (49.7%) reported that housing costs were a ‘heavy burden’. This was almost double the rate for households where all household members were ‘not limited’ (25.5%). See Figure 4.5 and view Table SIH07 in PxStat.

Overall, there was an increase in the percentage of households that reported housing costs as a heavy burden in 2022 when compared with 2021 (31.1% and 23.0% respectively).

In 2022, 49.7% of households with a severely limited member reported housing costs as a heavy burden, ten percentage points higher than the 2021 rate (39.3%). See Figure 4.6 and view Table SIH07 in PxStat.