Benefits Inadequate For Poor Families - Report

Irelands poor families and the unemployed do not have enough money to achieve a basic standard of living, a report commissioned by the government has found.

The report, funded by the Department of Social Protection, used an international budget standard to measure the cost of a minimum standard of living for Irish families and found it fell short.

The report looked found that in a household with two adults and two children with both adults working, the minimum expenditure needed to achieve a basic standard of living was around €540 a week.

This figure was then compared with the income of that household. The report found that those with low incomes or who were unemployed found it impossible to reach the €540 figure and were cutting back on basic essentials to get by.

(DW)