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Economic Status

A CSO Frontier Series Output - What is this?

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This chapter examines the economic status of offenders, with a particular focus on their engagement with employment, where applicable. This includes those who were presented in the Introduction as having an economic status of 'substantial employment only' and 'education & training substantial employment'. A significant proportion of offenders' employment records do not meet the CSO's classification criteria for 'substantial employment' (see economic status definitions in Methodology), so these are initially excluded from the discussion. However, an examination of 'neither education nor employment' records is presented at the end of the chapter. The available data for employment spans from 2005 to 2019.  

For 5.3% of the 2,850 offenders, employment was their last economic status up to April 2016. Employment was the first economic status recorded after April 2016 for 4.3%, while 11.8% were in employment in May 2019.

Table 2.1 Offenders in substantial employment (including those in education) by time period1
Time periodNumber%
Employment is last economic status up to April 20161505.3
Employment is first economic status after April 20161204.3
Employment is latest economic status up to May 201934011.8
Total Offenders2,850100.0
1All numbers are rounded to the nearest ten
Offenders
Employment is last economic status up to April 20165.26315789473684
Employment is first economic status after April 20164.28070175438596
Employment is latest economic status up to May 201911.7543859649123

Just over two-fifths of matched offenders (41.6%) have any record of employment. The highest employment rate between 2005 and 2019 was 15.8% in 2007 and it dropped steadily after 2007 to just 3.3% in the first four months of 2016. After April 2016, the employment rate rose to 11.7% by the first five months of 2019.

Table 2.2 Offenders in substantial Employment (including those in education) by year1
YearEmployment (%)
200514.8
200615.5
200715.8
200812.7
200910.5
201010.1
20118.3
20128.3
20137.4
20146.3
20154.7
2016 (up to April)3.3
2016 (after April)3.4
20177.5
20189.6
2019 (up to May)11.7
1Approximately 40 offenders were self-employed in 2017 and 2018.
Offenders in substantial employment
200514.7719298245614
200615.5087719298246
200715.8245614035088
200812.7368421052632
200910.4912280701754
201010.0701754385965
20118.28070175438596
20128.28070175438596
20137.43859649122807
20146.31578947368421
20154.70175438596491
2016 (up to April)3.33333333333333
2016 (after April)3.43859649122807
20177.47368421052632
20189.64912280701754
2019 (up to May)11.719298245614

There were 150 offenders whose last economic status up to April 2016 included substantial employment and their median duration of employment was 1.7 years. There were 340 offenders whose last economic status in May 2019 included substantial employment and they had a shorter median duration of employment of just 1 year.

Table 2.3 Years in employment for offenders in employment up to April 2016 and May 2019 (base year = 2005)1
Years in Employment
Time periodNumberMedianMean
Up to April 2016 (base 2005)1501.73.7
May 2016 to May 20193401.01.2
1All numbers are rounded to the nearest ten
MedianMean
Up to April 2016 (base 2005)1.66666673.7094444
May 2016 to May 201911.2121891

Table 2.4 presents the years which offenders were last in employment up to April 2016. In 2005, 70 offenders were in employment for the last time up to April 2016. The longest median duration of employment for offenders' last employment up to April 2016 was 2.0 years. This was the median between 2007 and 2012, and again in 2015.

Table 2.4 Offenders by mean and median number of years in employment by year of last employment up April 2016
YearNumberMedianMean
2005700.91.0
20061001.41.0
20071301.82.0
2008902.12.0
2009702.52.0
2010802.52.0
2011602.52.0
2012802.62.0
2013802.81.0
2014902.91.0
2015803.22.0
2016 (up to April)1004.11.3
MedianMean
200510.9788203
200621.6231146
200722.1134516
200832.6914601
200933.2229654
201033.3452381
201133.8732345
201233.9706921
201334.1835692
20142.04166674.3324074
201524.6691542
2016 (up to April)1.33333334.0807018

Table 2.5 presents the years which offenders were last in employment after April 2016. In 2019, 330 offenders were in employment and the median duration of employment was 1.3 years.

Table 2.5 Offenders by mean and median number of years in employment by year of last employment after April 2016
 NumberMeanMedian
2016 (after April)100.60.7
2017701.11
2018801.51
20193301.21.3
MeanMedian
2016 (after April)0.60.7
20171.11
20181.51
20191.21.3

Median weekly earnings for offenders were €346 in 2011. By the period May to December 2016, median weekly earnings fell to €235. By 2018, the median for offenders had risen to €350. 

(NOTE: for official statistics on national income in Ireland see EU-SILC, while for official sources of earnings data please see the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS) and Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2018 (EAADS).) 

Table 2.6 Earnings from PAYE employment for offenders & the general population by year, 2011-2018
 number 
 Number of offenders with earnings dataMedian weekly earnings
 OffendersAll PAYE earners (EAADS)
2011230346545
2012240317542
2013210331547
2014180320548
2015130287551
2016 (up to April)100245560
2016 (after April)100235
2017210247576
2018270350593
OffendersAll PAYE earners (EAADS)
2005388.7307692493.1153846
2006367.2523077515.1
2007401.48531.9655172
2008400.699095543.1923077
2009363.1190476532.8461538
2010334.3463203515.504902
2011345.9615385513.25
2012316.5686275517.2884615
2013331.4230769528.9069767
2014319.8014214542.0384615
2015286.960644550.3846154
2016 (up to April)245.0833333561.0769231
2016 (after April)235.2788462560.5769231
2017247.4038462564.7368421
2018350593.4615385
2019 (up to May)421.2309615594.2718605

Social protection payments were 26.6% of all income, (defined as income from employment plus social protection payments), for offenders who were employed in 2013. By 2019, social protection payments were 15.5% of all offenders' income.

Table 2.7 Social protection payments as a proportion of income1
%
YearOffenders
201326.6
201425.0
201525.2
2016 (up to April)18.0
2016 (after April)20.6
201724.0
201820.4
2019 (up to May)15.5
1Income here is gross pay from employment plus social protection payments
Offenders
201326.6168919
201424.9537101
201525.1787665
2016 (up to April)17.9630148
2016 (after April)20.6093692
201723.9573768
201820.3663091
2019 (up to May)15.4896634

Four out of five (78.7%) of the 1,720 offenders in April 2016 who were neither in education nor employment were receiving social protection payments. Immediately after April 2016, 73.3% of the 1,560 offenders who were not in education or employment received social protection payments and by May 2019 this proportion had risen to 81.0%.

Table 2.8 Percentage of offenders in 'neither education nor employment' in receipt of a DEASP payment by time period1
Time periodOffenders in Neither Education nor EmploymentPercentage in receipt of social protection payment (%)
Last activity up to April 20161,72078.7
First activity after April 20161,56073.3
Latest activity up to May 20191,70081.0
1All numbers rounded to the nearest ten.
Percentage of Offenders in receipt of social protection payments
Last activity up to April 201678.7456445993031
First activity after April 201673.25208466966
Latest activity up to May 201980.9523809523809

The most likely social protection payment received by offenders immediately before and after April 2016 was ‘supplementary payments’. Four in ten offenders (39.5%) before April 2016 and nine in ten (89.1%) after April 2016 received ‘supplementary payments’. However, by May 2019, the most likely type of payment was ‘working age income supports’, received by 41.0% of offenders.

Table 2.9 Offenders in receipt of DEASP payments in 'neither education nor employment' by payment type by time period
%
 Last activity up to April 2016First activity after April 2016Latest activity up to May 2019
Working age income support32.78.841.0
Working age employment supports0.30.00.7
Child-related supports0.90.10.7
Illness. Disability & Carers27.716.639.9
Pension payments1.20.32.4
Supplementary payments39.589.136.4
Last activity up to April 2016First activity after April 2016Latest activity up to May 2019
Working age income support32.6696165191748.7565674255691840.958605664488
Working age employment supports0.29498525073746300.65359477124183
Child-related supports0.8849557522123890.08756567425569180.726216412490922
Illness. Disability & Carers27.654867256637216.637478108581439.8692810457516
Pension payments1.179941002949850.2626970227670752.39651416122004
Supplementary payments39.454277286135789.141856392294236.3834422657952

Substantial employment at key points of this analysis was demonstrated to be low among offenders. Records of employment that failed to meet the CSO classification of 'substantial' are included as unsubstantially employed in the classification 'neither education nor employment'. Of the 1,720 offenders last recorded in 'neither education nor employment' up to April 2016, 12.4% were unsubstantially employed, falling to 8.0% regarding first economic activity after April 2016, and 4.9% in May 2019.

Table 2.10 Unsubstantial employment among offenders in 'neither education nor employment' by time period1
Time periodNumber%
Last activity up to April 201621012.4
First activity after April 20161308.0
Latest activity up to May 2019804.9
All offenders in neither education nor employment42025.3
1Unsubstantial employment is defined as those who have a record of employment in administrative data but do meet the criteria for classification as substantial employment. See Methodology. All numbers rounded to nearest ten.

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