Responding to the latest data from the Survey of Income and Living Conditions, published last week, the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) says while temporary measures delivered by the Government supported household incomes, far too many households are struggling to make ends meet given the scale of the cost of living crisis.
“The temporary measures supported households incomes, meaning fewer people had incomes below the poverty line, but this has not translated into an easing of financial difficulties as the data shows deprivation has risen,” SVP have said. “This is because the scale of the cost of living crisis means households continue to have to cut back on essentials they simply can’t afford.”
The figures from the Central Statistics Office show that just over 913,000 people were experiencing deprivation in 2023, up from 16.6% in 2022 to 17.3% in 2023. In addition, 6.4% of households had great difficulty in making ends meet in 2023, compared to 5.5% in 2022. This rises to 17.9% for one parent households and one in five one parent families have gone into debt to meet ordinary living expenses in 2023.