Embargo: 00.01hrs Friday 17 November 2006

Major new report reveals latest poverty and social exclusion trends in Northern Ireland

For the first time in Northern Ireland, an in-depth and comprehensive study analyses newly available data from a wide variety of authoritative sources to monitor current trends in poverty and social exclusion. Commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation from the New Policy Institute, the report covers: income poverty; benefit being received; employment and pay; disadvantage in work; exclusion from services; housing and neighbourhoods; health and harm; and education.

On many of the 50 indicators, Northern Ireland compares unfavourably with all of the nine English regions, as well as with Scotland and Wales. These include: the high number of people receiving out-of-work benefits; the high numbers without paid work; the high number of disabled people, especially related to mental ill-health; and the extent of low pay among full-time employees.

But surprisingly, income poverty in Northern Ireland, both overall and for particular groups, is only around the Great Britain average. This apparent paradox is accounted for by Northern Ireland’s low housing costs coupled with the fact that receipt of many social security benefits or credits does not necessarily mean that a household is in poverty.

Positive trends over time include the fall over the last decade in the proportion of people without paid work and the growth in job numbers, both bigger than anywhere in Great Britain.

Co-author Dr Peter Kenway said: “While Northern Ireland still has more of its people out of work and reliant on benefit than any British region, it has also managed a faster rate of job growth over the past decade than anywhere in Britain. The extent of the problems now reflects the legacy of its past, rather than a failure to move forward.”

Adverse trends include the rising proportion of people receiving Disability Living Allowance for reasons of mental ill-health, and the rise in the numbers presenting as homeless. There has also been no reduction in the number of 16-year-olds failing to reach a basic minimum standard at GCSE.

Many aspects of disadvantage are more prevalent in western districts, and sometimes Belfast, than elsewhere, although there are exceptions to this pattern.

“People living in low-income households in Northern Ireland face higher risks of many aspects of disadvantage, including poorer local environment, reduced mobility, higher rates of premature mortality, poorer health and a higher likelihood of unsatisfactory educational outcomes at 11 and 16,” concluded co-author Guy Palmer.

For further information, contact:

Peter Kenway (NPI Director): 020 7721 8421

Guy Palmer (NPI Director): 020 7721 8421

Notes to Editors:

1. The full report, Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Northern Ireland 2006 by Peter Kenway, Tom MacInnes, Aveen Kelly and Guy Palmer is published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
2. All the analyses can be downloaded in graphical format from www.poverty.org.uk, as can graphs on the UK, Scotland and Wales.
3. Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion, a series of annual independent reports, has analysed evidence from official statistics and the first, on the UK, was published in 1998. Since then, reports have covered Scotland and Wales. Up until 2002/03, official statistics on low income households did not cover Northern Ireland. These statistics from the past three years represent the minimum required for reliable estimates to be made. A breakdown of figures by local authority is available.
4. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is one of the largest social policy research and development charities in the UK. It supports a research and development programme that seeks to understand the causes of social difficulties and explore ways of overcoming them.
5. Read the Findings summary

Issued by Nasreen Memon, JRF Head of Media Relations:
07812 241220 / 01904 615958 / nasreen.memon@jrf.org.uk