Northern Ireland Poverty Bulletin

Its key findings include:

The overall level of relative poverty in Northern Ireland decreased between 2009/10 and 2010/11. Though this decrease was more marked for some population groups than others. The overall long term trend has remained fairly static, with approximately one fifth of the population in relative poverty in any given year.

In 2010/11 there were 355 thousand people in relative poverty and 232 thousand people in absolute poverty in Northern Ireland, both Before Housing Costs (BHC). This equates to 20% of the population in relative poverty and 13% in absolute poverty (BHC).

Between 2009/10 and 2010/11, both relative and absolute child poverty indicators showed a decrease in the child poverty rate. For 2010/11, 21% of children were in relative poverty and 13% of children were in absolute poverty, both BHC. This equates to 93 thousand children in relative poverty and 59 thousand children in absolute poverty (BHC). The relative poverty rate for children of 21% is one percentage point lower than the previous series low point of 22% in 2006/07 (BHC).

Between 2009/10 and 2010/11 the proportion of working age adults in relative poverty (BHC) decreased by 1 percentage point, from 20% to 19%. The total number of working age adults in relative poverty in 2010/11 was 199 thousand. Absolute poverty for working age adults between 2009/10 and 2010/11 increased by 1 percentage, from 12% to 13%. The total number of working age adults in absolute poverty stood at 136 thousand in 2010/11.

The proportion of pensioners in relative poverty (BHC) has decreased from a series high of 30% in 2008/09 to a series low of 22% in 2010/11. There were 63 thousand pensioners in relative poverty in 2010/11 (BHC). The proportion of pensioners in absolute poverty has decreased from 20% to 13% over the same period. This equates to 37 thousand pensioners in absolute poverty in 2010/11 (BHC).

The full bulletin is available here.