Why is Relative Income Poverty so High in Ireland?

F

Fitzroy

Guest
Asks The Economic & Social Research Institute in Ireland

[broken link removed]
 
Black market

This article points that the most vunreable people in Ireland in relation to the "risk" of poverty are those on social welfare payments

It has stated that we need to increae our safety net to protect the most vunreable along the lines of our Dutch and Danish counterparts

People's attitudes to soial welfare payemnts are very different in different nations

How is being on social welfare payments viewed in these countries?
How does the Dutch and Danish "real" unemployment figures compare to ours?
We have a very high prevalance of social welfare fraund in this country
(Sure hasn't it happened in Fair City twice)

Stu
 
Would avarice (prices of housing, rents, in shops and pubs) and sloth (compo culture, wink 'n nudge, 'shattered' as a legitimate excuse) have anything to do with it?<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->The self-righteous have castigated the US of A . A bit of introspection is not unwarranted.
 
Why is Relative Income Poverty so High in Ireland?

Because many poor people don't vote. Fianna Fail, who have been in government for over 50 years, don't give a damn about you if you don't vote. They only care about staying in office.
 
Relative Income Poverty

Sounds like a cliche but some rich are getting richer and the poor..?
With two Dublin housing estates in mind over the last few years, I`ve watched houses coming on the market go from owner occupier to investment property at an alarming rate.We have become a Republic of Tenants and Landlords.
If you don`t vote, remember your indifference is the greatest resource of the party you would have voted against.
 
> Relative Income Poverty

QUOTE: "Fianna Fail, who have been in government for over 50 years"

- Seriously? The same party has been in government for over 50 years !!??

Thank goodness there's democracy in Ireland, otherwise you could end up with a dictatorship...!
 
Because many poor people don't vote. Fianna Fail, who have been in government for over 50 years, don't give a damn about you if you don't vote. They only care about staying in office.
Click to expand...
Other than the "being in office for over 50 years" bit, do you really think that statement could not apply to every other party?
The great thing about democracy is that in broad terms the best way for any party to stay in office is to serve the majority of the people well.
- Seriously? The same party has been in government for over 50 years !!??
Click to expand...
That just goes to show what a bunch of slab headed clowns we have in opposition.
 
Relative Income Poverty

I suppose the Fianna Fail party wouldn't consider a system similar to the Australian system whereby *all* eligible voters *must* vote.

Staying at home on polling day isn't a (legal) option.
 
so called 'relative poverty'

This is just a joke. People who have free or subsidised local authority housing, free education to third level, free medical, various other social welfare benefits and also get more on the dole than their equivalents in the UK – a far richer society (e.g. UK unemployment benefit equivalent to 65.25 euro for over 25s, Ireland hands out 85.50 for all age groups) – are not ‘poor’ by any stretch of the imagination. ‘Less affluent’ maybe but not poor. ‘Protecting’ the vulnerable to the Dutch level is also a joke. We’ve unemployment of about 4% in Ireland, in the Netherlands it’s over 8% - so ‘protecting’ them to Dutch levels is just ‘protecting’ them to a life of unemployment. Give me a break, it's a recipe for a dosser society. 'Relative poverty' is just another excuse for the socialists to get their thieving hands on your paypacket.
 
'relative poverty'

A single person living alone can only obtain a medical card if they earn LESS than a gross amount of €7410 per annum



So you can still be on a very low income and not be entitled to a medical card.
 
Re: 'relative poverty'

Most of the scroungers spend their dole on drink and other non-necessities. Would it be better for the government to give out vouchers to certain shops etc!??
 
Reform needed

With the country now experiencing a labour shortage, minimum wage at a huge level, and immigrants falling over themselves to get into the country, we should be cutting social welfare payments, not raising them.

There’ll always be “relative” poverty in every society, the real test is the level of absolute poverty. With high social welfare, free medical care, education, and council housing, for those who fit the criteria, there is absolutely no poverty in Ireland.

Given our multi-seat STV PR voting system, no political party would ever have the nerve to stand up and say its time for a serious review of welfare. Just look at the brouhaha when Charlie McCreevey tightened up on the welfare loopholes, and had the lefties screaming about dirty dozen cuts.

In Ireland, what we need is a Government with real neck to clamp down on tax evaders, to close the tax loopholes open to so called “artists” and horse breeders, and to tighten up the rules on who gets what in welfare so that only those who can’t physically support themselves (the disabled, etc) receive welfare. The money saved on all this could be used to increase tax credits for all, directly assisting the very poorest of workers.
 
Re: Reform needed

With high social welfare, free medical care, education, and council housing, for those who fit the criteria, there is absolutely no poverty in Ireland.
Click to expand...
There is absolutely no truth in this statement. While there is certainly some abuse of social welfare benefits, there are many, many people living from hand to mouth, with no opportunity get out of the poverty traps. The 'on your bike' mantra is designed to provide a steady supply of minimum wage labour (with no opportunities to develop or grow) for certain industries.

Relative poverty is an important measure of the gap between rich & poor.
 
!

So rainyday, how many people starved in Ireland last week? how many illiterate people are there?

The welfare safty net ensures that there isn't poverty in Ireland. Quite the contrary, many people on the dole are living better than people in low (and medium) paying jobs.

Maybe you believe that everyone should get exactly the same income, regardless of the amount of work they put in? A kind of horrendous communist distopia. That thinking brings about real poverty.
 
Re: !

how many people starved in Ireland last week

So people have to be starving for you to recognise their poverty?
 
Re: !

So rainyday, how many people starved in Ireland last week? how many illiterate people are there?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure who the 'ivorytower' reference is aimed at, but if you believe that there are no problems with nutrition or literacy in disadvantaged areas, I'd be thinking that you are the one in the ivory tower.

Check out the [broken link removed] to see how 25% of Irish adults (500k people) have very poor levels of literacy. Why do you think many schools in disadvantaged areas are now providing breakfast clubs, to ensure that schoolkids have sufficient energy to participate in the school day?

And yes, I realise that SOME people on the dole may have a better life that those in low paying jobs - but the solution to this issue isn't to cut the dole. And no - I've never recommended that everyone should get exactly the same income. It is inevitable that there will be differences in income - but when you find that the spread of incomes in Ireland and US is much wider than in many other western countries, this indicates that we need to do something - unless of course we really want to divide our society further.
 
!

Let's hear your definition of what constitutes poverty then piggy.

The social welfare system in this country holds people back by preventing them from taking that first step into paid employment. Even low paid employment gives people dignity. We shouldn’t prevent people from working by having such high welfare levels, such that it makes more economic sense for them to stay on the dole, rather than starting out into the world of work.
 
Re: !

Let's hear your definition of what constitutes poverty then piggy.
 
John, I agree with the broad thrust of what you are saying, though loopholes are not the problem, its just plain old tax evasion. Those people who find themselves falling on hard times should be helped but there is a begging bowel culture in much of Irish society where people talk about what they are entitled to from the government when they wouldn't do a days work in a fit. I would supply names and addresses to back this up but I might get sued (or more likely kneecapped).

The reason we have a high level of relative poverty is because we have a low level of social responsibility from most of those who fall into the relative poverty category.

The 'on your bike' mantra is designed to provide a steady supply of minimum wage labour (with no opportunities to develop or grow) for certain industries.
Click to expand...
rainy, that falls into the "sweeping statement" category. It ignores the complexities of the real world, negates any individual responsibility for individual circumstances and is not up to your usual standard....so there!

So people have to be starving for you to recognise their poverty?
Click to expand...
Oh, there are so many sorts of poverty, economic, social, moral. ethical etc etc etc.
If it's the real (absolute) poverty level, as defined by the UN, then there is no one in Ireland (in real terms) suffering from poverty.
If it's the relative form then so what? It is nothing more than an abstract statistical measure. For example, if everyone in the country was suffering from absolute poverty together there would be no relative poverty!

To talk about "the rich" and "the poor" as if they were two different and totally separate groups in society with no cross over is rubbish and a tool of the simple minded.
The same applies to lables like "working class" , "middle class" and "Upper class". Anyone who's income is derived from their days work is working class, be they a street sweeper of hospital consultant. The only good thing that civil war politics gave to this country was the lack of class politics. Not the left is trying to divide our country upon those lines. How dare they.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top