A major new report from the progressive think tank, Tasc, has found that income inequality in Ireland is moving further away from the distribution found in other Europe countries towards the levels of gross inequality experienced in the United States. Cherishing all Equally is the first detailed analysis of economic inequality in Ireland. It looks beyond income and wealth at a range of other issues including public services, taxation, family composition, people’s capacities and the cost of goods and services.Dr. Nat O’Connor, TASC’s Research Director and one of the report’s authors, highlighted some of the key statistics about Ireland’s rising economic inequality contained in Cherishing all Equally:According to Revenue data, the Top 1% of income earners in Ireland averaged €373,300 per annum compared to €27,400 for the bottom 90%The top 10% hold somewhere between 42% to 58% of Ireland’s wealth compared to 12% for the bottom 50%Workers’ share of national income fell from 65% in 1990 to less than 56% in 2009Dr. O’Connor said that such high levels of economic inequality in Ireland are not inevitable and stressed that the levels of economic inequality are not the same in other European countries.To read the full report click here
Ireland moving towards US levels of inequality
