There have now been nine austerity budgets in Ireland since 2008. Three Eurozone countries—Ireland, Greece and Spain—have seen a doubling of the number of people living in households with no income from work. Who has been hit the hardest by the economic crisis and austerity? It is low-income groups, young people, and families with children. The report concludes that austerity ‘hampers progress in reducing inequality and poverty’ and that the economic losses resulting from austerity ‘are not shared equally. Labour incomes appear to fall substantially more strongly than profits or rents, and losses suffered by workers also persist for longer’. The European Trade Union Institute that also remarks that as bad as European unemployment rates may be, the situation is in fact worse because many of the jobs that have been created are part-time.
Ireland has one of the highest rates of youth not in employment, education or training. The ‘at risk of poverty rate’ of young Irish adults between 18 and 24 years of age nearly doubled since 2008, now standing at almost 27%. The overall unemployment rate in Ireland is about 12%, but if emigration is factored in, it would be around 20%, and if discouraged and involuntary part-time workers are included, it would be above 24%. In Ireland, nearly one in five young people have experienced serious deprivation, which is twice as many as in 2007, while a stunning 51% of young people have difficulty accessing health care because it is too expensive.
Community Platform—a network of 30 Irish groups in the community and voluntary sector—asked people a simple question: ‘how is the recession, and government policy, affecting your life?’ Based on the answers, it concluded that austerity has been ‘devastating for people who are on low incomes, unemployed, marginalised or dependent on welfare’—in short, those most vulnerable and who had nothing to do with the crisis in the first place. It warns that ‘the dual attack of unemployment and relentless cuts at national and local level has pushed individuals, families and communities into poverty’ and documents ‘parents going hungry to feed their children, people unable to heat their homes and a young generation at serious risk of being lost to unemployment, drugs and crime’. Thus, ‘fundamentally, the pictures emerging here are of people who are reaching breaking point as they bear the brunt of the crisis which was not of their making’.
The problem of homelessness in Ireland is ‘out of control’ and ‘getting worse every week and no one appears to be doing anything about it’. In Dublin alone, six people become homeless every day. Just to keep pace with the problem would require opening a new hostel with 28 beds every week. It’s hard for homeless people to start renting because in Dublin, there are 2,500 people chasing 1,500 accommodation units and rents have increased by 18% since 2011 while the rent allowance payable by the Department of Social Protection has fallen by almost 30% since 2011. In theory, there is also social housing, but there is a waiting list of nearly 90,000. The government said it would build some new homes over the next two years, but that would only reduce the waiting list by 2%.
Nevertheless, the Irish Times is pursuing the campaign it called for in 2008 to ‘educate’ the public about the alleged virtues of austerity.
Full article here on Counterpunch website
Ireland has one of the highest rates of youth not in employment, education or training. The ‘at risk of poverty rate’ of young Irish adults between 18 and 24 years of age nearly doubled since 2008, now standing at almost 27%. The overall unemployment rate in Ireland is about 12%, but if emigration is factored in, it would be around 20%, and if discouraged and involuntary part-time workers are included, it would be above 24%. In Ireland, nearly one in five young people have experienced serious deprivation, which is twice as many as in 2007, while a stunning 51% of young people have difficulty accessing health care because it is too expensive.
Community Platform—a network of 30 Irish groups in the community and voluntary sector—asked people a simple question: ‘how is the recession, and government policy, affecting your life?’ Based on the answers, it concluded that austerity has been ‘devastating for people who are on low incomes, unemployed, marginalised or dependent on welfare’—in short, those most vulnerable and who had nothing to do with the crisis in the first place. It warns that ‘the dual attack of unemployment and relentless cuts at national and local level has pushed individuals, families and communities into poverty’ and documents ‘parents going hungry to feed their children, people unable to heat their homes and a young generation at serious risk of being lost to unemployment, drugs and crime’. Thus, ‘fundamentally, the pictures emerging here are of people who are reaching breaking point as they bear the brunt of the crisis which was not of their making’.
The problem of homelessness in Ireland is ‘out of control’ and ‘getting worse every week and no one appears to be doing anything about it’. In Dublin alone, six people become homeless every day. Just to keep pace with the problem would require opening a new hostel with 28 beds every week. It’s hard for homeless people to start renting because in Dublin, there are 2,500 people chasing 1,500 accommodation units and rents have increased by 18% since 2011 while the rent allowance payable by the Department of Social Protection has fallen by almost 30% since 2011. In theory, there is also social housing, but there is a waiting list of nearly 90,000. The government said it would build some new homes over the next two years, but that would only reduce the waiting list by 2%.
Nevertheless, the Irish Times is pursuing the campaign it called for in 2008 to ‘educate’ the public about the alleged virtues of austerity.
Full article here on Counterpunch website
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