The Northern Ireland Poverty Bulletin 2018/19 is released
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A publication entitled “The Northern Ireland Poverty Bulletin 2018/19” was published today by DfC.
The Northern Ireland Poverty Bulletin is produced annually by the Department for Communities and contains statistics on income and poverty for various population groups.
The bulletin provides analysis on two measures of poverty:
- Relative Poverty - the proportion of individuals who have incomes below 60% of the UK median.
- Absolute Poverty - the proportion of individuals who have incomes below 60% of the UK (inflation adjusted) median income in 2010/11.
A more detailed report ‘The Households Below Average Income’, is due to be published in Summer 2020.
Key findings with regard to Relative Poverty Before Housing Costs (BHC) are summarised below:
- 19% of individuals were in poverty, approximately 350,000 individuals. This is higher than the 2017/18 estimate of 16%.
- 24% of children were in poverty, approximately 107,000 children. This is higher than the 2017/18 estimate of 19%.
- 18% of working-age adults were in poverty, approximately 201,000 working-age adults. This is higher than the 2017/18 estimate of 15%.
- 15% of pensioners were in poverty, approximately 43,000 pensioners. This is the same as the 2017/18 estimate of 15%.
- None of the changes listed above are statistically significant.
Key findings with regard to Absolute Poverty Before Housing Costs (BHC) are summarised below:
- 16% of individuals were in absolute poverty, representing approximately 303,000 individuals. This is an increase on the 2017/18 estimate of 14%. This is a statistically significant increase.
- 21% of children were in absolute poverty, representing approximately 92,000 children. This is an increase on the 2017/18 estimate of 16%. This is a statistically significant increase.
- 16% of working-age adults were in absolute poverty, representing approximately 176,000 working-age adults. This is an increase on the 2017/18 estimate of 13%. This is a statistically significant increase.
- 12% of pensioners were in absolute poverty, representing approximately 34,000 pensioners. This is a fall from the 2017/18 estimate of 14%. This is not a statistically significant decrease.
- While the percentage of pensioners living in absolute poverty fell from 2017/18 to 2018/19, the percentage of those in absolute poverty in the three other sub groups all experienced a statistically significant increase. These are the first increases for these three sub groups since 2013/14.
The analysis for relative and absolute poverty has also been produced on an After Housing Costs (AHC) basis.
Notes to editors:
- This is the seventh publication of the Northern Ireland Poverty Bulletin and the data published in this bulletin are for the financial year April 2018 to March 2019. The estimates are used to monitor poverty levels in Northern Ireland.
- Figures presented in this bulletin are taken from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset, which is based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS has been running in Great Britain since 1992 and was subsequently introduced to Northern Ireland in April 2002.
- An infographic on how low income is measured in HBAI is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-low-income-is-measured
- Poverty figures quoted in this press release are for relative poverty and absolute poverty before housing costs.
- An individual is considered to be in relative poverty if they are living in a household with an income below 60% of UK median income in the year in question. In 2018/19 the threshold was £308 per week (BHC) for a couple with no children (the benchmark for HBAI). Therefore, a couple with no children that have a combined income below £308 per week would be considered to be in relative poverty.
- An individual is considered to be in absolute poverty if they are living in a household with an income below 60% of the inflation adjusted UK median income in 2010/11. In 2018/19 the threshold was £294 per week (BHC) for a couple with no children (the benchmark for HBAI). Therefore, a couple with no children that have a combined income below £294 per week would be considered to be in absolute poverty.
- All monetary amounts quoted in the key findings are in 2018/19 prices and any changes presented are in real terms i.e. after adjusting for inflation.
- Unless specifically stated, annual changes in the numbers and percentages of individuals in poverty presented in the body of this report are not statistically significant. Caution should be exercised when looking at year on year comparisons, with longer term trends often giving a clearer picture.
- This publication will be available at: https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/topics/family-resources-survey#toc-1
- All media queries should be directed to the Department for Communities Press Office email press.office@communities-ni.gov.uk. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 0769 9715440 and your call will be returned.