Social Justice Ireland's work on developing a Universal Basic Income for Ireland was acknowledged by Noel Whelan in his op-ed article in The Irish Times on September 15, 2017.
Ireland’s National Minimum Wage does not allow people to live what is considered a minimum socially acceptable standard of living in Ireland, and the planned increase in 2018 will not do much to change that. The high proportion of workers earning below the Living Wage is the focus of Issue 5 of the Employment Monitor.
The National Social Monitor is Social Justice Ireland’s annual contribution to the public debate that is needed on Ireland’s future and how Ireland is performing in terms of promoting the wellbeing of all in society. It examines progress in areas such as housing, healthcare, education, employment, rural development and the environment among others.
Social Justice Ireland has called for the introduction of an EU-wide Basic Income system.
Sean Healy, Director of Social Justice Ireland, was invited by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs to be part of an Expert Group Meeting on “Strategies for Eradicating Poverty to Achieve Sustainable Development for All” which was held at the United Nations in New York in May 2017. This Expert Group Meeting was organised to make specific policy recommendations on effective strategies for eradicating poverty in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including lessons from the implementation of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-2017).
Ireland’s social contract is broken. The legitimate expectations of citizens are not being met. This is most obvious in areas such as housing and homelessness, a two-tier healthcare system, an ongoing failure to provide rural broadband and high levels of poverty and social exclusion, especially among children. 2017 is the first year of a new century for Ireland and now is the perfect opportunity to develop a new and radical social contract for Ireland’s second century.
The CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions has been published. It shows that despite an increase in median incomes 789,855 people are living in poverty in Ireland today. Of this number 245,645 are children under the age of 18. Despite the increase in median incomes and other signs of economic recovery these figures show that a significant proportion of the population is still living in very difficult circumstances. These figures are unacceptable in a developed Western economy.
Over 100,000 people are currently working part-time hours, but would take full-time employment if they could find it. This figure has increased by 25 per cent since 2008 and points to a worrying employment trend in Ireland. This is one of the key findings from Social Justice Ireland's latest Employment Monitor. Some of this part-time work gives rise to increased dependency on state income supports.
The executive summary of Social Justice Ireland's Socio-Economic Review 2017 'A New Social Contract for a New Century' is available below.
This paper examines the costing of a Basic Income for Ireland.
