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Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC): Enforced Deprivation 2023

Enforced Deprivation

Enforced deprivation increased from 16.6% in 2022 to 17.3% in 2023

CSO statistical publication, 07 March 2024, 11am

Enforced Deprivation

Enforced deprivation is defined as occurring where a household experiences two or more of the 11 national deprivation items discussed in the previous chapter. Survey on Income and Living Conditions Fact Sheet (PDF 494KB) .

The proportion of persons living in households experiencing enforced deprivation went up from 16.6% in 2022 to 17.3% in 2023. The 2021 rate was 13.7%. See table 3.1.

Three in ten (30.0%) people were living in households that experienced at least one of the 11 deprivation items. In 2021 one in four (24.8%) people were living in households that experienced at least one of the 11 deprivation items. See figure 3.1 and table 3.2.

17.3%

of people

were experiencing enforced deprivation in 2023

up from 16.6% in 2022 and 13.7% in 2021

Source: CSO Ireland, Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC): Enforced Deprivation 2023

Of persons that are living in enforced deprivation, the most commonly experienced deprivation items were:

unable to afford to replace any worn out furniture (72.1%).
unable to get-together with family or friends for a drink or a meal once a month (63.0%).
unable to afford a morning, afternoon or evening out in last fortnight (61.2%). See table 3.3.

X-axis label	2+ items of deprivation experienced	1 item of deprivation experienced	0 (No deprivation)
2023	17.3	12.7	70
2022	16.6	10.8	72.6
2021	13.7	11.1	75.2

Table 3.1 Enforced deprivation rate by demographic characteristics and year (% of individuals)

Table 3.1 Enforced deprivation¹rate by demographic characteristics and year²(% of individuals)
		Deprivation rate
		2021	2022	2023
State		13.7	16.6	17.3
Sex
	Male	12.7	15.2	16.0
	Female	14.6	17.9	18.7
Age group
	0-17	17.3	18.8	21.4
	18-34	15.3	18.3	19.3
	35-49	12.2	17.3	16.5
	50-64	13.5	13.7	16.2
	65+	7.6	12.7	10.7
Principal economic status (aged 16 years and over)
	Employed	8.7	11.7	12.3
	Unemployed	29.6	46.6	37.8
	Retired	7.1	12.2	9.6
	Unable to work due to long-standing health problems	37.0	40.3	44.7
	Student, pupil	13.9	17.8	21.6
	Fulfilling domestic tasks	16.3	21.2	24.8
Highest education level attained (aged 16 years and over)
	Primary or below	18.8	25.6	27.1
	Lower secondary	20.0	21.7	24.0
	Higher secondary	13.4	18.7	19.2
	Post leaving cert	14.4	19.5	17.5
	Third level non degree	9.5	16.7	14.4
	Third level degree or above	6.8	7.7	7.9
Household composition
	1 adult aged 65+	12.4	17.2	20.0
	1 adult aged <65	19.9	23.9	25.7
	2 adults, at least 1 aged 65+	6.7	9.0	7.2
	2 adults, both aged <65	15.0	16.0	12.4
	3 or more adults	10.6	11.7	12.8
	1 adult with children aged under 18	44.2	45.4	41.4
	2 adults with 1-3 children aged under 18	11.2	17.4	17.7
	Other households with children aged under 18	15.7	16.5	22.0
Household type
	One person household	16.2	21.8	23.2
	Lone parent with at least one child aged less than 25	39.6	44.5	45.6
	Lone parent with all children aged 25 or more	19.6	17.3	18.6
	Couple without any child(ren)	7.4	10.2	7.3
	Couple with at least one child aged less than 25	9.3	14.0	14.6
	Couple with all children aged 25 or more	6.7	7.3	3.9
	Other type of household	19.2	17.4	22.0
Number of persons at work in the household
	0	29.1	31.6	29.2
	1	13.5	23.0	21.8
	2	7.8	9.1	11.6
	3+	6.5	7.2	11.0
Tenure status
	Owner-occupied	6.3	9.9	8.8
	Rented or rent free	30.9	32.4	36.5
Urban/rural location
	Urban areas	15.8	18.1	19.8
	Rural areas	9.7	13.4	12.2
Region
	Northern and Western	12.0	16.9	17.4
	Southern	16.1	19.1	18.4
	Eastern and Midland	12.7	14.8	16.6
¹Deprivation Rate: The share of persons who experience two or more of the eleven deprivation items.
² Data for 2021 and 2022 was updated on 07/03/2024. Please see information note for details https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/in/silc/informationnotecensusrevisions-silc2020to2022/.

Open in Excel: SILC Enforced Deprivation 2023 Table 3.1 (XLS 38KB)

Table 3.2 The number of deprivation items experienced by year (% of individuals)

Table 3.3 Percentage of the population experiencing each deprivation item by enforced deprivation status and year (% of individuals)

Table 3.3 Percentage of the population experiencing each deprivation item by enforced deprivation status and year¹ (% of individuals)
		2021	2022	2023
Deprivation Indicators
	% of individuals
	Without heating at some stage in the last year	6.7	8.2	10.8
	Unable to afford a morning, afternoon or evening out in the last fortnight	4.0	9.0	11.8
	Unable to afford two pairs of strong shoes	3.0	2.1	2.0
	Unable to afford a roast once a week	3.6	3.3	4.2
	Unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day	1.7	1.2	1.6
	Unable to afford new (not second-hand) clothes	8.9	8.6	8.1
	Unable to afford a warm waterproof coat	1.3	1.3	1.2
	Unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm	3.4	6.8	7.2
	Unable to afford to replace any worn out furniture	16.2	18.7	17.8
	Unable to afford to have family or friends for a drink or meal once a month	8.7	9.2	12.3
	Unable to afford to buy presents for family or friends at least once a year	3.3	3.8	5.2
	% of individuals experiencing deprivation
	Without heating at some stage in the last year	35.9	38.7	49.3
	Unable to afford a morning, afternoon or evening out in the last fortnight	27.6	50.9	61.2
	Unable to afford two pairs of strong shoes	21.0	12.9	11.2
	Unable to afford a roast once a week	23.9	18.6	20.1
	Unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day	11.3	7.2	8.9
	Unable to afford new (not second-hand) clothes	60.3	48.6	44.5
	Unable to afford a warm waterproof coat	8.5	7.6	6.6
	Unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm	22.5	38.0	37.5
	Unable to afford to replace any worn out furniture	80.7	77.3	72.1
	Unable to afford to have family or friends for a drink or meal once a month	52.7	51.1	63.0
	Unable to afford to buy presents for family or friends at least once a year	18.3	20.3	26.0
	% of individuals not experiencing deprivation
	Without heating at some stage in the last year	2.1	2.1	2.8
	Unable to afford a morning, afternoon or evening out in the last fortnight	0.3	0.7	1.5
	Unable to afford two pairs of strong shoes	0.2	0.0	0.0
	Unable to afford a roast once a week	0.3	0.3	0.8
	Unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day	0.1	0.0	0.0
	Unable to afford new (not second-hand) clothes	0.8	0.7	0.5
	Unable to afford a warm waterproof coat	0.2	0.1	0.0
	Unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm	0.3	0.6	0.8
	Unable to afford to replace any worn out furniture	6.0	7.1	6.4
	Unable to afford to have family or friends for a drink or meal once a month	1.7	0.9	1.7
	Unable to afford to buy presents for family or friends at least once a year	0.9	0.5	0.9
¹ Data for 2021 and 2022 was updated on 07/03/2024. Please see information note for details https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/in/silc/informationnotecensusrevisions-silc2020to2022/.

Open in Excel: SILC Enforced deprivation 2023 Table 3.3 (XLS 35KB)

Over two in five persons unable to work due to long-standing health problems were living in enforced deprivation

By self-defined principal economic status, persons that were most likely to be living in enforced deprivation were those unable to work due to long-standing health problems (44.7%), followed by the unemployed (37.8%). Persons least likely to be living in enforced deprivation were the employed (12.3%) and the retired (9.6%). See figure 3.2 and table 3.1.

X-axis label	2021	2022	2023
Employed	8.7	11.7	12.3
Unemployed	29.6	46.6	37.8
Retired	7.1	12.2	9.6
Unable to work due to long-standing health problems	37	40.3	44.7
Student, pupil	13.9	17.8	21.6
Fulfilling domestic tasks	16.3	21.2	24.8

Over two in five persons in single-adult households with children were living in enforced deprivation

By household composition, persons living in single-adult households with children were the most likely to be living in enforced deprivation (41.4%). See figure 3.3 and table 3.1.

X-axis label	2021	2022	2023
1 adult aged 65 years and over	12.4	17.2	20
1 adult aged less than 65 years	19.9	23.9	25.7
2 adults, at least 1 aged 65 years and over	6.7	9	7.2
2 adults, both aged less than 65 years	15	16	12.4
3 or more adults	10.6	11.7	12.8
1 adult, with children under 18 years	44.2	45.4	41.4
2 adults, with 1-3 children under 18 years	11.2	17.4	17.7
Other households with children under 18 years	15.7	16.5	22

Renters four times more likely to be living in enforced deprivation than those in owner-occupied homes

By tenure status, more than one in three (36.5%) people living in rented or rent-free accommodation were living in enforced deprivation, compared with less than one in ten (8.8%) living in owner-occupied housing. See figure 3.4 and table 3.1.

X-axis label	2021	2022	2023
Owner-occupied	6.3	9.9	8.8
Rented or rent free	30.9	32.4	36.5

While less than a third (30.7%) of people live in rented or rent-free accommodation, they make up almost two-thirds (64.7%) of people living in enforced deprivation. See figure 3.5 and table 3.4.

X-axis label	Rented or rent free	Owner-occupied
Persons experiencing enforced deprivation	64.7	35.3
Population	30.7	69.3

Table 3.4 Profile of population experiencing enforced deprivation by demographic characteristics and year (% of individuals)

Table 3.4 Profile of population experiencing enforced deprivation¹ by demographic characteristics and year²(% of individuals)
		2021		2022		2023
		Population	Deprivation rate²	Population	Deprivation rate¹	Population	Deprivation rate ¹
State		100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Sex
	Male	49.5	46.0	49.4	45.3	49.4	45.5
	Female	50.5	54.0	50.6	54.7	50.6	54.5
Age group
	0-17	23.9	30.2	24.0	27.2	23.4	28.9
	18-34	21.6	24.1	21.0	23.2	21.3	23.7
	35-49	22.7	20.3	22.7	23.7	22.3	21.2
	50-64	17.8	17.6	18.2	15.0	18.2	17.0
	65+	14.0	7.8	14.2	10.9	14.8	9.1
Principal economic status
	Employed	43.1	27.3	46.1	32.7	47.0	33.3
	Unemployed	4.9	10.6	2.4	6.9	2.8	6.0
	Retired	11.5	6.0	12.0	8.8	12.7	7.0
	Unable to work dut to long-standing health problems	4.4	12.0	4.5	10.9	4.3	11.1
	Student, pupil	8.1	8.2	7.6	8.2	6.6	8.3
	Fulfilling domestic tasks	5.3	6.3	5.2	6.7	4.7	6.7
	Children under 16 years of age	21.3	27.1	21.2	23.9	21.3	26.0
	Other	1.3	2.6	0.9	1.9	0.6	1.6
Highest education level attained
	Primary or below	6.9	9.4	7.2	11.2	6.6	10.4
	Lower secondary	11.7	17.1	11.3	14.8	10.5	14.5
	Higher secondary	17.9	17.5	18.4	20.7	19.3	21.4
	Post leaving cert	9.4	9.9	9.2	10.8	9.6	9.7
	Third level non degree	5.1	3.6	5.5	5.5	5.2	4.3
	Third level degree or above	26.6	13.2	26.8	12.4	26.4	12.1
	Children under 16 years of age	21.3	27.1	21.2	23.9	21.3	26.0
	Other³	1.2	2.3	0.5	0.7	1.1	1.8
Household composition
	1 adult aged 65+	3.6	3.2	3.6	3.7	3.7	4.3
	1 adult aged <65	4.5	6.6	4.4	6.4	4.6	6.8
	2 adults, at least 1 aged 65+	8.6	4.2	8.7	4.8	9	3.7
	2 adults, both aged <65	10.8	11.8	10.7	10.3	10.7	7.7
	3 or more adults	20.7	16.0	21.1	14.9	20.9	15.4
	1 adult with children aged under 18	4.0	12.9	4.1	11.2	3.9	9.3
	2 adults with 1-3 children aged under 18	28.8	23.6	28.7	30.1	28.6	29.3
	Other households with children aged under 18	19.0	21.7	18.6	18.5	18.6	23.6
Household type
	One person household	8.3	9.8	8.1	10.7	8.3	11.1
	Lone parent with at least one child aged less than 25	10.1	29.1	7.7	20.7	8.5	22.4
	Lone parent with all children aged 25 or more	3.0	4.3	3.4	3.6	3.1	3.3
	Couple without any child(ren)	14.6	7.8	14.8	9.1	15.5	6.5
	Couple with at least one child aged less than 25	47.9	32.5	46.3	39.2	43.1	36.3
	Couple with all children aged 25 or more	6.7	3.3	6.5	2.8	6.6	1.5
	Other type of household	9.4	13.1	13.1	13.8	15.0	19.0
Number of persons at work
	0	20.4	43.4	17.5	33.4	17.4	29.4
	1	29.7	29.3	27.0	37.6	26.8	33.6
	2	39.6	22.4	43.6	23.8	44.5	29.8
	3+	10.3	4.9	11.9	5.2	11.3	7.2
Tenure status
	Owner-occupied	69.8	32.0	70.5	42.2	69.3	35.3
	Rented or rent free	30.2	68.0	29.5	57.8	30.7	64.7
Urban/rural location
	Urban areas	65.4	75.4	67.4	73.5	67.5	77
	Rural areas	34.6	24.6	32.6	26.5	32.5	23
Region
	Northern and Western	17.6	15.4	17.8	18.1	17.2	17.3
	Southern	32.7	38.4	32.1	37.1	32.6	34.6
	Eastern and Midland	49.7	46.2	50.2	44.8	50.2	48.1
¹ Deprivation Rate: The share of persons who experience two or more of the eleven deprivation items.
² Data for 2021 and 2022 was updated on 07/03/2024. Please see information note for details https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/in/silc/informationnotecensusrevisions-silc2020to2022/.
³ Including missing highest education level.

Open in Excel: SILC Module on Enforced Deprivation 2023 Table 3.4 (XLS 13KB)

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Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC): Enforced Deprivation 2023

Enforced Deprivation

Enforced Deprivation

Enforced deprivation increased from 16.6% in 2022 to 17.3% in 2023

Enforced Deprivation

Over two in five persons unable to work due to long-standing health problems were living in enforced deprivation

Over two in five persons in single-adult households with children were living in enforced deprivation

Renters four times more likely to be living in enforced deprivation than those in owner-occupied homes

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Table 3.2 The number of deprivation¹items experienced by year² (% of individuals)
		2021	2022	2023
Number of deprivation items experienced
% of individuals
	0 (No deprivation)	75.2	72.6	70.0
	1	11.1	10.8	12.7
	2	5.3	5.6	5.6
	3+	8.4	11.0	11.8
	Total	100.0	100.0	100.0
	2+	13.7	16.6	17.3
¹ Deprivation Rate: The share of persons who experience two or more of the eleven deprivation items.
² Data for 2021 and 2022 was updated on 07/03/2024. Please see information note for details https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/in/silc/informationnotecensusrevisions-silc2020to2022/.