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

At Risk of Poverty

In February 2023, from the 2022 round of the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) the CSO published a second report SILC 2022. The second publication focused on poverty and income indicators. Poverty rates were published by demographic and other characteristics. 

An individual is defined as being at risk of poverty if their nominal equivalised disposable income is under the at risk of poverty threshold, i.e. 60% of the median nominal equivalised disposable income. See At Risk of Poverty Indicators Explained (PDF 1,094KB) .

The annual SILC contains questions required for the Minimum European Health Module (MEHM). These questions allow for analysis of poverty status for respondents aged 16 years and older by (1) Self-perceived general health status (2) Chronic morbidity status and (3) Activity limitations (the presence of long-standing activity limitation due to health problems measured via the Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI)). 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. The questions and answer options for self-perceived general health status and chronic morbidity status can also be found in the Editor’s note. 

The risk of poverty increases as general health status declines

In 2022, the national at risk of poverty rate for people aged 16 years and older was 12.7%, up from 11.3% in 2021.  The 2022 at risk of poverty rate for people aged 16 years and older who perceived their general health as ‘very bad’ was almost four times higher than the rate for those with a ‘very good’ perception of their health (30.4% and 8.0% respectively). See Figure 3.1 and view Table SIH02 in PxStat.

People with a chronic illness are almost twice as likely to be at risk of poverty

The at risk of poverty rate for people with a self-reported chronic illness was 18.6%, more than eight percentage points higher than the rate for those without a chronic illness (10.3%). See Figure 3.2 and view Table SIH03 in PxStat.

More than one in four people with severe activity limitations are at risk of poverty

More than one in four (27.4%) people aged 16 years and older with long-standing severe activity limitations due to health problems were at risk of poverty in 2022. The comparable rate for those ‘limited but not severely’ was 21.1% and 10.1% for people ‘not limited’. See Figure 3.3 and view Table SIH04 in PxStat.

Consistent Poverty

The consistent poverty measure is defined as people who are both at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation.  The consistent poverty rate for people aged 16 years and older was 4.9% in SILC 2022 compared with 3.7% for the previous year. See Figure 3.4 and view Table SIH02 in PxStat.

Consistent poverty rates increase with worsening general health

Analysis by self-perceived general health status shows that consistent poverty rates increase with worsening general health. The consistent poverty rate for people who perceived their general health as ‘very bad’ was over seven times higher than for people with ‘very good’ health (18.9% and 2.5% respectively). 

People with a chronic illness are twice as likely to be living in consistent poverty

The consistent poverty rate for those who reported a chronic illness was 8.6% compared with 3.4% of people without a chronic illness. See Figure 3.5 and view Table SIH03 in PxStat.

People with severe limitations are four times more likely to be living in consistent poverty as those with no limitations

The 2022 consistent poverty rate for people ‘severely limited’ in usual activities was four times higher than the rate for those ‘not limited’ (14.1% and 3.5% respectively). The consistent poverty rate for people ‘limited but not severely’ was 9.0%. See Figure 3.6 and view Table SIH04 in PxStat.