3 Income Inadequacy 3.1 Local Authority Tenants At the end of December 2006 Kildare local authorities (including Naas and Athy Town Councils) had 2,944 tenants in local authority housing with a further 4,429 on the housing waiting list and 1,522 on the Affordable Housing waiting list. Table 17 indicates the breakdown between local authority areas. Table 17: Local Authority Housing in Kildare LA Area Tenants LA Waiting List Affordable Waiting List Kildare County Council 2,387 3,673 1,133 Naas Town Council 301 372 340 Athy Town Council 256 384 49 Total 2,944 4,429 1,522 Source: Kildare County Council, 2006. The rents of all Local Authority houses owned by Kildare County Council are calculated under the Differential Rents Scheme. Under this scheme, tenants of Kildare local authorities pay differential rents based on the principal income (that is, the household member with the highest assessable income together with the income of his/her spouse). Once the rent payable in respect of the principal income has been determined, 15% of the income of each subsidiary earner (income of any other members of the household) which exceeds a26 per week is added subject to a maximum contribution of a10 by each subsidiary earner. With regard to determining rents for tenants, the income from the following sources is disregarded: Children s Allowance, Orphans Allowances or Orphans Pensions payable under the Social Welfare (Consolidation Act, 1981). Scholarships, higher education grants. Allowances payable under the boarding out of Children Regulation 1954. Allowances for domiciliary care of handicapped children under the Health Act 1970. Allowances or assistance received from any charitable organisation. Lump sum compensation payment. Capital investments will not be assessed, however, any interest payable on such investments will be assessed in full. Fuel Allowance. Disability Allowance. Carers Allowance. Invalidity Pension. Income from first year of a FÁS course. 39
For the purpose of determining rents, income from the following sources is assessed in full: Income from employment including self-employment. All Social Insurance, Social Assistance, Payment Allowances, Pensions, Health Board Allowances and Training Allowances. Self employed persons will be assessed on submission of end of year accounts. Tenants/occupiers who are in receipt of either voluntary or court ordered maintenance will have the full amount assessed. Where the tenant/occupier is paying maintenance under a court order the amount ordered will be deducted. A deduction from the weekly rent is made for each dependent child (that is, persons aged 18 years or under or who being under age twenty two, are attending a full-time course of education and do not have their own source of income). The amount of the deduction is a0.75 per child per week. The weekly minimum rent on each local authority dwelling is a15.00, except in the case of 1 bedroom dwellings, where the minimum rent is a10.00 per week. There is no maximum rent on 2/3 or 4 bedroom dwellings. For one bedroom dwellings, a maximum of a25.00 applies to tenants who are 65 years or over and a maximum of a50.00 applies to all other tenants of one bed dwellings. The average weekly rent for Kildare County Council tenants was a70.01 per week in 2006. The average weekly income for Kildare County Council tenants was a211.70. According to the EU SILC, in 2006 the poverty threshold increased by 5.1% in a year from a192.74 to a202.49 per week (CSO, 2007). 64.1% of Kildare County Council tenants make less than a202.49 per week putting them below the poverty threshold. 3.2 Social Welfare Recipients According to the EU-SILC (CSO, 2007) social transfers (payments such as old age pension, lone parent payments, unemployment benefit, child benefit) reduce the risk of poverty by 58%. If all social transfers were excluded from the calculations of income, the at risk of poverty rate in 2006 would have been just over 40%, more or less unchanged from the level recorded in 2005. The impact of including these transfers is to significantly reduce the risk of poverty rate to 17.0% (CSO, 2007). Social welfare payments substantially reduce the poverty risk of the elderly, with old-age and survivor s benefits having the most significant impact. These benefits reduced the risk of poverty among the elderly by over 60% (85.9% to 34.1%). Other social transfers have a similar impact, reducing the risk of poverty rate by a further 60% from 34.1% to 13.6% (CSO, 2007). As in 2005, almost 20% of gross household income was generated from social transfers in 2006. More than 90% of household income in the lowest income decile and over 82% in the second lowest decile was from social welfare payments, compared to just over 6% in the highest decile (CSO, 2007). The various types of social welfare payments in Ireland and the number of recipients in Kildare in 2006 are detailed in Table 18. The payment with the largest number of recipients in Kildare was Child Benefit, with 27,749 persons in receipt of these payments. Other payments with higher number of recipients include Widow/er s (Contributory) Pension (3,663), State Pension (Contributory) (3,343), One Payment Family Payment (3,242), Illness Benefit (2,981), Rent Supplement (2,549), Disability Allowance (2,528) and State Pension (Transition) (2,476). 40 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
Table 18: Social Welfare Payment Types Type of Payment Number of Recipients in Kildare, 2006 State Pension (Contributory) 3,343 State Pension (Transition) 2,476 State Pension (Non-Contributory) 1,751 Pre-Retirement Allowance 231 Widows, Widowers and One Parent Families Widow/er s (Contributory) Pension 3,663* Widow/er s (Non-Contributory) Pension 53* Deserted Wife s Benefit 374* Deserted Wife s Allowance 20* Prisoner s Wife s Allowance - One Parent Family Payment 3,242* Widowed Parent Grant (Contributory) - Widowed Parent Grant (Non-Contributory) - Child Related Payments Maternity Benefit 819 Health & Safety Benefit 2 Adoptive Benefit - Guardian s Payment (Contributory) 19 Guardian s Payment (Non-Contributory) 12 Child Benefit 27,749 Illness, Disability & Caring Illness Benefit 2,981 Invalidity Pension 1,840 Injury Benefit 35 Disablement Pension 461 Death Benefit 26 Disability Allowance 2,528 Carer s Allowance 737 Carer s Benefit 47 Respite Care Grant - Blind Pension 26 Employment Supports Back to Work Allowance Employee 127 Back to Work Allowance Scheme 146 Part Time Job Incentive Scheme 1 Family Income Supplement 717 Farm Assist 35 Supplementary Welfare Allowance 778 Miscellaneous Payments and Grants Rent Supplement 2,549 Source: DSFA, 2007 * Denotes estimated. 41
3.3 Deprivation Indices Kildare scores higher in terms of both absolute and relative affluence than most other counties in the State. The estimates of change in the relative affluence/deprivation scores also show that Kildare experienced a greater increase in affluence levels than the rest of the State over the 1996-2002 8 period. However, when examined on a sub county level there is an obvious polarisation between the most affluent and least affluent districts. At ED level, the lowest levels of affluence within Kildare, as based on the Haase-Pratschke index, are associated with southern and western parts of the county, and in particular with Athy town centre (Athy Urban West) which is characterised as disadvantaged with a deprivation score of 3.2 (Map 21). As a consequence of its deprivation score Athy is in the RAPID programme which means that it is a priority area for all State agencies. Athy East Urban (with a deprivation score of 8.5) and Athy East Urban (with a deprivation score of 10) experienced the smallest increases in terms of their relative affluence scores between 1991 and 2002 (Map 22). 8 At time of writing, the 2006 deprivation indices being produced for Pobal for Trutz Hasse had not been completed so the 2002 ones are used here instead. 42 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
Map 21: Measure of Affluence (Hasse-Pratschke) 2002 43
Map 22: Change in relative affluence/deprivation 1991-2002 44 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
3.4 Socioeconomic Status A persons socio-economic status is hugely influential of their income and ability to earn. The population is generally classified on the basis of occupations by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) into seven social class groups which are labelled as follows: (1) Professional workers, (2) Managerial and technical, (3) Non-manual, (4) Skilled manual, (5) Semi-skilled, (6) Unskilled and (7) All others gainfully occupied and those for whom there is no occupational reference data. The occupations that make up each of the groups are selected to, as much as possible, bring together people with similar levels of occupational skill. Social class, therefore, ranks occupations by the level of skill required on a scale ranging from 1 (highest) to 7 (lowest). In addition, educational attainment levels have a strong influence on occupational choices, which together with information on status in the labour force (employed vs unemployed), largely determines the social class to which individuals are assigned by The Central Statistics Office. In 2004, the income quintile share ratio shows that persons in the top income quintile in Ireland, had five times the equivalised income of those in the bottom quintile (CSO, 2005). The distribution of the population of Kildare and the State by social classes are summarised in Table 19. Table 19: Percentage Distribution of Population by Social Class 2006 Social Class Kildare % State % 1 12,278 6.7 277,062 6.5 2 53,954 29.2 1,117,986 13.8 3 33,238 384 721,731 17.0 4 29,717 4,429 725,938 17.1 5 19,608 10.6 469,320 7.6 6 7,707 4.1 180,371 4.3 7 28,117 15.2 747,440 17.6 Census of Population, 2006, CSO Social Class 2 is the group with the largest numbers in both Kildare and the State, however, the proportion of Kildare s population in this group is almost double that of the State (Table 19) A substantially smaller percentage of the population are in Social Class 1. In total, the numbers in social classes 1 and 2 accounted for more than a third of the Kildare population (35.9%). Kildare had a fairly similar proportion of people in Social Class 3 (18.0%) to the State (17.0%). The proportions in the manual social classes (4,5 and 6) were similar for Kildare and the Sate for social classes 4 and 6 (skilled manual and unskilled manual), with Kildare having a slightly higher proportion in the social class 5 (semi-skilled). Within Kildare, large numbers of people in the managerial, professional and technical social classes tend to be concentrated in the commuter-belt areas in the north-east of the county and in an areas north of Kildare town and Carlow. Particularly high levels are focussed around the urban centres of Naas, Celbridge and in the hinterlands of Newbridge (Map 23). Particularly low levels are associated with the west of the county, around Athy and other pockets in the south of the county. This highlights the great geographical divide, in terms of social class, in Kildare. 45
The proportions in the manual social classes tend to be particularly high in the west and south of the county particularly around Allenwood, Rathangan, Kilberry, Ballitore, Castledermot and along the Carlow border and a district north of Athy (Map 24). Much smaller proportions in the manual social classes are associated with the commuter zone areas in the north east of the county. More than 15% of the population is classified as being in Social Class 7 which represents persons who do not belong to any of the previous groups as well as persons for whom there was insufficient information. This class was particularly strongly represented around Maynooth, Rathangan, Athy and Newbridge (Map 25). If we consider patterns of change in the various social classes over the last 10 years, Map 26 highlights that the greatest increases in Social Classes 1 & 2 have been around Naas and along the M7 and M4 motorways as well as around Kilcullen and the area between the M7 and the N9. The EDs with the greatest increases in Social Class 1 & 2 were Donaghcumper (51.7%), Johnstown (50.9%), Kilteel (49.8%), Dunmurry (47.6%), Ladytown (47.6%), Carragh (46.9%) and Newbridge Rural (46.4%). There were no losses in Social Classes 1 & 2 in the county between 1996 and 2006 but the lowest increases in this period would be in the EDs of Kilberry (17.2%), Drehid (29.2%) and Churchtown (33.3%). The EDs with the greatest changes in Social Classes 4,5 & 6 are highlighted in Map 27. From the map it can be seen that the greatest increases in Social Classes 4,5 and 6 were around Naas, Newbridge, Kildare, Kilcock the area south of Kildare and around Castledermot. The EDs with the greatest increases in these social classes over the ten-year period were Naas Rural (57.6%), Kildangan (51.7%), Quinsborough (49.3%), Harristown (48.4%) and Bodenstown (46.3%). The greatest losses in Social Classes 4,5 & 6 were in the EDs of Johnstown (-100.0%), Kilkea (-40.7%), Inchaquire (-22.7%) and Bert (-20.0%). Given the fact that Social Class 7 encompasses persons who do not belong to any of the previous groups as well as persons for whom there was insufficient information, the pattern of change for this group is quite complicated (Map 28). The greatest increases in Social Class 7 between 1996 and 2006 were around Naas, Kildare, Athy, Clane, Kilcock and in parts of the west of the county. The EDs with the greatest increases were Killinthomas (88.3%), Windmill Cross (87.1%), Bodenstown (85.3%), Naas Rural (84.3%), Kildangan (83.8%), Johnstown (82.4%), Timahoe South (80.6%), Kilcock (80.4%) and Downings (80.2%). The only losses in Social Class 7 during this period were observed in the ED of Balraheen (-56.1%). 46 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
Map 23: Persons in Social Class 1 & 2 as a percentage of total persons, 2006 47
Map 24: Persons in Social Classes 4, 5 & 6 as a percentage of total persons 2006 48 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
Map 25: Persons in Social Classes 7 as a percentage of total persons 2006 49
Map 26: Persons in Social Class 1 & 2 percentage change 1996-2006 50 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
Map 27: Persons in Social Class 3,4,5 & 6 percentage change 1996-2006 51
Map 28: Persons in Social Class 7 percentage change 1996-2006 52 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
3.5 Participation in the Labour Market In 2006 the total number at work in Kildare was 91,581 9, compared with 51,299 in 1996. The overall participation rate is 63.9% compared with 57.2% for the State reflecting the age profile of the county (a larger proportion of those aged over 15 are in the working age groups) and the greater opportunities for employment in Kildare and neighbouring counties (Table 20). Table 20: Labour Force Participation: Kildare compared with the State Kildare % Change 1996-2006 State % Change 1996-2006 At work 91,581 +58.6 1,930,042 +25.8 First time Jobseekers 1,108 +23.5 29,372 +6.5 Unemployed 5,030-9.5 150,084-24.6 Unemployment Rate 6.3% -3.8 8.5% -4.4 Labour Force Participation Rate 63.9% +5.7 57.2% +1.8 Source: CSO, 1996 & 2006 The number of employed people increased dramatically in particular in Kildare, compared with the State over the 1996-2006 period largely initiated by the economic boom associated with the Celtic Tiger. In Kildare alone the number of people at work increased by 33,825 or 58.6% over a ten year period, a much higher proportion than the average rate of increase for the State (25.8%). The increase in the numbers employed in Kildare and the State stem only partially from a reduction in unemployment levels, as the reduction in the numbers unemployed accounts for only a small percentage of the employment increase. 3.6 Unemployment Rate & those in Receipt of Employment Assistance/Benefit In 2006 the unemployment rate for Kildare was 6.3%, compared with 8.5% for the State. The unemployment rate for the State fell by 4.4% and for Kildare fell by 3.8% in the 1996-2006 period (see Table 20). This number, however, approximated to just 0.9% of the increase in the number employed. So in 2006, there were 5,030 persons unemployed in Co. Kildare and this had increased to 6,061 by 2007 according to the latest Live Register analysis from the CSO (CSO, 2008). 9 Note: This figure refers to the number of persons residing in Kildare who are classified at work. Many of these are commuting to workplaces outside the county. 53
Table 21: Number on Live Register in Kildare, 1997-2007 Year Number on Live Register 1997 7,022 1998 5,839 1999 4,347 2000 3,268 2001 3,697 2002 4,362 2003 4,752 2004 4,350 2005 4,662 2006 5,187 2007 6,061 Source: CSO, 2007 The highest unemployment levels were associated with the west and south west of the county and particularly with Athy (Map 29). The EDs with the highest unemployment rates, based on the 2006 Census, were Athy West Urban (15.3%), Bert (14.8%), Athy Rural (13.7%), Athy East Urban (12.6%), Kilberry (11.6%), Skerries (10.8%) and Newbridge Urban (10.5%). The total number of unemployed persons and first time job seekers declined by 4.9% (319), between 1996 and 2006. There were reductions in the unemployment rate throughout most of the county except for two districts: Killinthomas in the west of the county and Newtown in the east of the county whose unemployment rates increased by 71.4% and 21.5% respectively (Map 30). The greatest reductions in the unemployment rate over this period were in the EDs of Drehid (-100.0%), Johnstown (-91.8%), Ballaghmoon (-82.8%), Narraghmore (-82.5%), Harristown (-81.0%) and Rathernan (-80.5%). Jobseekers Benefit is a weekly payment based on insurance contributions. Jobseekers Allowance is also a weekly payment but is means tested. To qualify for Jobseekers Benefit or Allowances, an individual has to be: unemployed (i.e. at least 3 days in each period of 6 consecutive days) under 66 years of age capable of work available for full-time work genuinely seeking work. 54 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
For Jobseekers Benefit an individual must have suffered a loss of employment, that is, they must have lost at least one day s insurable employment including a loss of income. Table 22 illustrates an age breakdown of those in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit and Jobseekers Allowance in Co. Kildare at the end of 2007. More than 40% of those in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance in Co. Kildare are aged under 29 years, highlighting a relatively high proportion of young people who are in receipt of means tested Jobseekers Allowance. This rises to 53.3% if those aged 30-34 years are included. There were proportionately less people aged under 29 years in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit (28.3%). Almost 40% of those in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit were aged between thirty and forty-four years. Table 22: Recipients of Jobseeker s Supports by age group in Co Kildare at end of Dec 07 (% of recipients in each age group in brackets) Age Group Jobseekers Benefit Jobseekers Allowance <25 325 (12.2) 564 (24.1) 25-29 427 (16.1) 381 (16.3) 30-34 394 (14.8) 303 (12.9) 35-39 374 (14.1) 231 (9.9) 40-44 287 (10.8) 221 (9.4) 45-49 244 (9.2) 207 (8.8) 50-54 213 (8.0) 182 (7.8) 55-59 200 (7.5) 138 (5.9) 60-64 166 (6.3) 109 (4.7) 65+ 26 (1.0) 8 (0.3) Total 2,656 2,344 Source: DSFA, Dec 2007. 55
Map 29: Unemployment Rate, 2006. 56 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
Map 30: Unemployment Rate, percentage difference 1996-2006 57
3.7 People Unable to Work due to Sickness/Disability According to figures from the CSO, there were 4,824 (3.4% of the population aged over 15 years) persons in Co. Kildare in April 2006 who described themselves as unable to work due to permanent sickness/disability, compared with 4.1% of the States population (Table 23). Table 23: Persons Unable to Work due to Sickness/Disability, Kildare compared with the State Kildare State Number of persons unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability 4,824 138,382 Persons unable to work due to sickness or disability as a % of those aged over 15 years 3.4 4.1 Source: CSO, 2006 Map 31 indicates those who were unable to work due to sickness/disability. The map highlights that the majority of those who are unable to work due to sickness/disability are located towards western parts of the county. The EDs with the highest proportion of those who were unable to work due to sickness/disability were Ballysax West (8.8%), Monasterevin (8.7%), Athy West Urban (8.3%), Lullymore (8.3%), Dunfierth (7.4%) and Kilpatrick (6.5%). 58 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
Map 31: Persons unable to work due to sickness/disability as a percentage of total persons aged over 15 years, 2006 59
3.8 Car Ownership Kildare (12.9%) has relatively fewer households with no car compared with the State (19.7%) (Table 24). It also has proportionately fewer households with one car (35.4%) compared with the State (38.4%). However, Kildare has a greater proportion of households with two cars (40.7%, compared to 32.8% for the State) and also a greater proportion of households with three or more cars (10.4%, compared with 8.7% for the State). In this way, if we consider car ownership as reflective of levels of poverty, Kildare appears quite wealthy. Table 24: Car Ownership, Kildare compared with the State Kildare % State % Households with no car 7,878 12.9 288,777 19.7 Households with one car 21,563 35.4 564,249 38.4 Households with two cars 24,801 40.7 481,732 2.8 Households with 3 cars 6,336 10.4 127,538 8.7 Source: CSO, 2006 However, on a sub county level it is apparent that there are areas where households with no car are more common (Map 32). Many urban centers, such as Newbridge, Athy and Naas, as expected have higher proportion of households with no car but due to the proximity of services in the urban areas, access to a car is not as vital as it would be in more rural areas. From the map it can be seen that there are a number of more rural areas in Kildare where households have no car. The EDs with the highest proportions of households with no car were Athy West Urban (29.2%), Newbridge Urban (28.9%), Athy East Urban (23.4%), Rathangan (19.8%), Kildare (19.7%), Maynooth (18.6%), Monasterevin (17.2%), Ballysax East (17.1%), Ballitore (17.0%) and Castledermot (16.5%). A more distinctive pattern is apparent for households with one car (Map 33), with the hinterlands of Naas, Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevin, Athy and Ballitore more likely to have one car per household. The EDs with the highest proportion of one car households were Athy West Urban (47.0%), Athy East Urban (46.8%), Athy Rural (42.4%), Newbridge Urban (41.4%), Bert (41.1%), Ballitore (40.9%), Monasterevin (40.9%), Naas Rural (40.3%), Kilberry (40.1%). A more discernible pattern still is apparent for households with two or more cars (Map 34). These households are more concentrated in northern parts of the county, in particular around Kilcock, in the hinterlands of Naas and Newbridge, around Monasterevin as well in a few more rural areas in western parts of the county and south of Newbridge. The EDs with the highest proportions of households with two or more cars Kilteel (76.8%), Carragh (74.5%), Ladytown (73.9%), Rathmore (72.3%), Cloncurry (71.0%), Drehid (70.8%) and Kilrush (70.8%). 60 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
Map 32: Households with no car as a percentage of total households, 2006 61
Map 33: Households with one car as a percentage of total households, 2006 62 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare
Map 34: Households with two or more cars as a percentage of total households, 2006 63