Income Distribution

In this section we present the evidence in relation to trends in income distribution in Ireland.

Highlights

Employment Earnings Inequality in Ireland 2006-2010

Written by researchers from the UCC School of Economics and commissioned by Publicpolicy.ie, this report analyses changes in the earnings distribution of employment income in Ireland using a dataset of approximately 1.4 million people who were employed continuously over the period 2006-2010.  The report analyses inequality from several perspectives including age, gender and sector.

Low Skills Of The Irish Workforce

The skill levels among the working-age population in Ireland are relatively low. Up-skilling the adult population, especially in terms of the key information-processing skills, has to be a high priority for policy makers.

Measuring Youth Unemployment

The conventional measure of youth unemployment does not account for comparatively higher participation in education by young people. This report contrasts the conventional measure with an alternative – the unemployment ratio.

Evidence On The Incentive To Work

Despite a relatively generous welfare net and the costs associated with working, most of the evidence suggests that the majority of unemployed people would be better off in a job.