One in four in arrears on bills
Stark figures released by the CSO show that last year more than one-third of households with a gross weekly income of between €401.68 and €662.02 had arrears on at least one bill or loan. This compares with 15% of households in the same income bracket in 2008.
More than 23% of households within this income category were in arrears on “other bills”, such as health and education, just under 7% had arrears on hire purchase or other loans, almost 10% were in arrears with their mortgage or rent and close to 17% were in arrears with their utility bills.
In 2009, 17% of households in the highest weekly income bracket of €1,567.20 had arrears on at least one bill or loan, compared with fewer than 2% of households in this bracket the previous year.
Arrears on “other bills” were the most common experienced by households, followed by utility bill arrears where close to 10% of all households were falling behind in payments.
The survey found that last year almost 48% of households stated that they would be unable to meet an expense of €1,085 without borrowing. More than 11% of households had to go into debt in 2009 to meet ordinary living expenses. This figure was up from just over 9% in 2008.
In 2009, just under 10% of households stated they experienced “great difficulty”, just over 14% experienced “difficulty” and almost 38% experienced “some difficulty” in making ends meet
Also last year, more than one in four households stated housing costs were a heavy burden and over half said housing costs were somewhat of a burden.
Policy worker and support worker with the European Anti Poverty Network Ireland Paul Ginnell said the survey showed the Government was only paying “lip service” to protecting the vulnerable.