Housing and poverty: official Irish data
sources
Joe Finnerty
School of Applied Social Studies,
& Institute for Social Science in 21st Century,
University College,Cork.
Presentation at the UCC summer school on Conceptualising and Measuring
Poverty 19th June 2012
Content of presentation
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introduction to the main, publicly available, official, regularly produced, quantitative,
Irish data sources (survey or administrative) relating to housing poverty, and to
housing and poverty.
some general remarks on the importance of paying attention to the context of these
stats (facilitating an understanding what they mean, their uses and limitations) - the
production and reception of housing / poverty data, using the concept of tenure and
of homelessness statistics by way of illustrations
.
Structure of presentation
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PART 1 DATA SOURCES NOT DISCUSSED – NGO HOUSING / POVERTY DATA
PART 2 HOUSING COSTS, HOUSING DEPRIVATION and HOMELESSNESS in the
framework of IRISH ANTI-POVERTY STRATEGIES
EXCURSUS #1 – 'tenure' as an indicator of housing poverty
PART 3 OFFICIAL SURVEY SOURCES OF HOUSING / POVERTY DATA: 1.SILC,
2.HBS, 3.Census of Population
PART 4 ADMIN SOURCES OF HOUSING / POVERTY DATA: 4.Social Housing
Needs Assessment, 5.Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services,
6.Department of Environment, Community and Local Government stats online,
7.Central Bank stats on mortgage arrears
PART 5 OFFICIAL SURVEY AND ADMIN SOURCES OF HOMELESSNESS DATA:
8.Counted In, 9.PASS, 10.2011 Census 'new question', 11.3-yearly counts under the
1988 Housing Act, section 9, 12. rough sleeper count in Dublin area
EXCURSUS #2 – the contexts of homelessness measures
PART 1 Data sources not discussed
PART 1 Data sources not discussed (1)
'Non-official' data
= data produced by a variety on NGOs in the
areas of Irish housing / poverty and
homelessness, such as
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Simon Communities of Ireland
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Focus Ireland
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RESPOND!
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Threshold
–
see their websites for relevant reports and data
Data sources not discussed (2)
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This data is typically based on the NGO admin data on uptake
of services such as hostel accommodation, food provision, etc.
over a given period
In many cases, NGOs will produce robust stats for their own
organisation
Where the NGO, or a coalition of NGOs, have a rigorous
research function, they may provide estimates of the size of a
relevant population
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e.g. the MakeRoom coalition www.makeroom.ie
See O'Sullivan (2008) 'Researching homelessness in Ireland: explanations, themes and
approaches' in Downey (ed.) Perspectives on Irish Homelessness
some reflections on data produced by advocacy groups occurs in the later slides
on the 'politics of measurement'.
PART 2 HOUSING COSTS, DEPRIVATION AND
HOMELESSNESS IN IRISH ANTI-POVERTY STRATEGIES
Tripartite poverty definition/measurement, NAPS
Sharing in Progress 1997
INCOME
INADEQUATE
RESOURCES
DEPRIVATION
‘UNACCEPTABLE’
STANDARD OF
LIVING
EXCLUSION FROM
PARTICIPATION IN
SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR THAT IS
THE NORM
Using the NAPS poverty framework, the presentation will
focus on the main data sources classified by:
-housing costs (mortgage and rental payments) - relevant to the
income (and expenditure) dimensions to poverty
-housing facilities and quality - relevant to the deprivation
dimension to poverty
-indirect or broader indicators of housing and poverty – those
housing variables that can be correlated with income and
deprivation variables (principally tenure)
-homelessness, where households are without 'accommodation'
that is in the form of permanent private housing units (to which
these variables re costs, quality, and tenure, ipso facto cannot
apply)
•
Homelessness is first discussed in the mid-term revised NAPS, Building an
EXCURSUS #1
'SOCIAL HOUSING' AS A (TENURE-BASED)
INDICATOR OF POVERTY?
Key housing concept: TENURE
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from the French tenir, to hold
refers to nature or basis of occupancy by the
household of its accommodation.
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See Doling, 1997, Comparative Housing Policy
3 main tenures in Ireland
I.Owner occupation
Either mortgaged
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Or owned outright
II.Private renting (from private for-profit landlord)
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III.Social renting
-from local authority (‘public’ not-for-profit landlord)
-
from housing association (private not-for-profit landlord)
See O’Connell, (2008), The state and housing in Ireland: ideology,
policy and practice
CONTEXT: Social housing as indicator of problems...or
solutions?
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% of households in social housing tenure and /
or in receipt of rent supplement is commonly
used as an indicator of housing poverty (e.g.
Edwards and Linehan, City of Difference)
But it may be argued that this is actually an
indicator of welfare responses to housing
poverty (the extent of housing welfare 'effort')
Social housing as indicator of
problems...or solutions?
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Part of the answer lies in the unit of analysis
being used
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At household level, the focus tends to be on
housing costs and quality of accommodation
At neighbourhood level, the focus may also include
issues around tenure, social mix and
neighbourhood quality
Another part of the answer...
Note the distinction made earlier between:
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'housing poverty',
and
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'housing and poverty'
The policy rationale of social housing provision is to alleviate housing poverty (good
quality housing – alleviating housing deprivation, plus at an affordable rent –
alleviating housing cost aspects of income poverty)
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See e.g. DoECLG (2011) Housing Policy Statement (Dublin: DoECLG)
Evidently it is an empirical question (to be evaluated via, inter alia, the data sources
listed) whether this policy aspiration is realised
The impact of housing poverty alleviation on the alleviation of other poverty
dimensions (the extent to which it alleviates either post-housing cost income poverty,
or non-housing dimensions of deprivation) is a separate issue
PART 3
OFFICIAL SURVEY SOURCES OF HOUSING /
POVERTY DATA
PART 3 official surveys on housing /
poverty
1.Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC)
2.Household Budget Survey
3.Census of Population
PART 3 official surveys on housing /
poverty
1.Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC)
2.Household Budget Survey
3.Census of Population
The EU-SILC is the data collection instrument providing
1.Survey
on
Income
and
Living
Conditions
'official' evidence about the income and deprivation
dimensions of poverty in Ireland.
Research body? Central Statistics Office
Data selection? a large sample of households
Data collection? primarily based on questionnaires
administered on a rolling basis
How often? annually from 2003
Online? www.cso.ie/en/silc/
Availability to researchers? anonymised microdata
available to bona fide researchers via the UCD Irish
Social Science Data Archive
www.ucd.ie/issda/
SILC tenure data
SILC data is collected in relation to a tenure
variable, with three categories:
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Owner-occupied
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Rented at the market rate
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Rented at below the market rate or rent free
And these are correlated throughout the SILC
report with other variables....
SILC tenure data
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Note however that these 3 categories don't
correspond directly with the standard
classification by housing analysts above...
Note on SILC tenure categories
The categories of the tenure variable at data
collection stage, for subsequent collapse into
the three-fold typology, are as follows:
1. Owned Outright
2. Owned with Mortgage (including joint owner rental with Local Authority)
3. Owned with tenant purchase system
4. Owned with affordable housing
5. Rented from Local Authority
6. Rented from landlord with furnishings
7. Rented from landlord without furnishings
- From CSO 2010, SILC questionnaire manual, p. 19
SILC questions on housing poverty #1
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Comprise 2 of the items on the official
deprivation index
‘lacking two or more items from the following 11item index’:
'6. Had to go without heating during the last year
through lack of money
7. Keep the home adequately warm'
Generating (tenure by deprivation) data such as:
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"Individuals living in households renting at
'below the market rate or rent free' reported the
highest levels of deprivation in 2009, with only
29.1% experiencing no deprivation at all."
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CSO 2012
SILC - (tenure by at-risk-of poverty)
data example:
persons living in owner-occupied accommodation
had a significantly lower at risk of poverty rate
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"The at risk of poverty rate for persons living in owneroccupied accommodation was 10.1% in 2009
while the rate for persons living in accommodation
rented at the market rate was 16.5% and for
persons living in accommodation rented at below the
market rate or rent free was 31.7%."
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CSO 2012
SILC - (tenure by consistent
poverty) data example
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"the highest consistent poverty rate reported
was for those renting at below market rate in
2009 - at17.9%,
a consistent poverty rate of 8.3% for persons
in accommodation rented at the market rate
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2.5% for persons living in owner-occupied
housing"
–
CSO 2012
SILC questions re housing costs
( first introduced in 2009):
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on household indebtedness, there is a
dichotomous yes/no question on rent and
mortgage arrears
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(by income quintile)
'Housing cost burden' offers three response
categories: heavy / somewhat / none
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(by income quintile)
SILC questions re housing &
neighbourhood quality
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Damp walls
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Dark rooms
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Absence of hot running water
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Noise a problem in neighbourhood
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Crime a problem in neighbourhood
2. Household Budget Survey
2. HOUSEHOLD BUDGET
SURVEY
Research body? Central Statistics Office
Data selection?
last round
Data collection?
sample of 8,000 households in
Household questionnaires
How often? every 5 years (since 1951)
- last conducted in 2009 -2010
Online?
www.cso.ie/en/surveysandmethodology/housingandhouseholds/householdbudg
etsurvey/Availability to researchers? anonymised microdata available to
bona fide researchers via the UCD Irish Social Science Data Archive
www.ucd.ie/issda/
2. HOUSEHOLD BUDGET
SURVEY
Research body? Central Statistics Office
Data selection?
last round
Data collection?
sample of 8,000 households in
Household questionnaires
How often? every 5 years (since 1951)
- last conducted in 2009 -2010
Online?
www.cso.ie/en/surveysandmethodology/housingandhouseholds/householdbudg
etsurvey/Availability to researchers? anonymised microdata available to
bona fide researchers via the UCD Irish Social Science Data Archive
www.ucd.ie/issda/
Household Budget Survey
Collects data on
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household expenditures (including housing)
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income and labour market status
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household facilities and appliances
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housing tenure
3. Census of Population
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Research body? Central Statistics Office
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Data selection? Universal coverage (not a sample)
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Permits detailed analysis down to Electoral Division level (and
anonymised files are available online)
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How often? every 5 years with some exceptions (from 1926)
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Online? www.cso.ie/en/census/
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Availability to researchers? Interactive tables, Small Area
Population Stats (SAPS) for selected variables and geographic areas,
for more recent censuses. Anonymised microdata available to bona
fide researchers – contact CSO for details.
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Data on tenure were first collected in the postWWII census (1946), and then in the first
census of every decade
From the 2006 census, tenure questions are
also asked in mid-decade censuses
Other Census housing data
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Indicators of housing quality:
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type of heating
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no. of rooms
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indoor toilet
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age of house
Other Census housing data
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Data on rental housing costs [but not on
mortgage payments]
PART 4 Administrative data on
housing / poverty
PART 4 Administrative data on
housing / poverty
4. Social Housing Needs Assessment
5. Statistical Information on Social Welfare
Services (rent and mortgage interest supplements)
6.
Department of Environment, Community and
Local Government stats online
7. Central Bank stats on mortgage arrears
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(The local authority Ihouse database)
4. social housing needs assessment
Research body? Based on local authority admin data
Data selection? A census of all relevant cases of need
How often? Every 3 years (based on data returned by
Local Authorities under the 1988 Housing Act, section 9)
This data is available by housing authority
- though with some delays between data collection and
dissemination
Online?
www.environ.ie/en/Publications/StatisticsandRegularPublica
tions/HousingStatistics/
Availability to researchers? No, dataset not supplied.
Breakdown of households assessed as being in need of
social housing by:
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Tenure
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Employment status
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Age;
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Household type;
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Duration ;
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Income analysis of households;
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Number of non- EU National households
5. DoSP (2011) Statistical Information on Social
Welfare Services 2010
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Research body? Admin data from DoSP
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Data selection? A census of all relevant files
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Data collection? Admin data
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How often? Annually (online from 1998)
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Online?
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www.welfare.ie/EN/Policy/ResearchSurveysAndStatistics/P
ages/StatInfoReportsIndex.aspx
Availability to researchers? No, dataset unavailable
Statistical Information on Social Welfare
Services
Trends in rent and mortgage interest supplement
scheme including:
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Overall expenditures
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No. of recipients
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Age
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Gender
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Primary income source
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Geographical area (county)
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Types of household
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Duration of claim
6. DoE stats online
Research body? DoE
Appears to have replaced the Housing Stats Bulletin (until
2008, quarterly and annually)
Data selection? A census of all relevant cases
Data collection? Admin data
How often? Updated every few months
Online?
www.environ.ie/en/Publications/StatisticsandRegularPublic
ations/HousingStatistics/
Availability to researchers? No, original dataset not
supplied
Presents data on activities by social
housing bodies
Local authority new build
Voluntary / housing association new build
Shared ownership
Low cost housing sites
Improvement works in lieu of re-housing
Affordable housing
Local authority loans for home purchase and improvement
Overall social housing expenditures
7. Central Bank data on
overmortgaged households
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Research body? Irish Central Bank
Data selection and collection? compiles stats on all
mortgage arrears, supplied by mortgage lending
institutions,though these are not very (more detailed
data incl. on Right to Buy mortgages, later in 2012)
How often? quarterly from June 2011
Online?
www.centralbank.ie/polstats/stats/mortgagearrears/Pa
ges/releases.aspx
Availability to researchers? No, original dataset
unavailable
Mortgage data is supplied on
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Total residential mortgage loans outstanding
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Arrears by duration
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Repossessions
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Restructured mortgages
PART 5
OFFICIAL SURVEY AND ADMIN SOURCES OF
HOMELESSNESS DATA
Data sources on homelessness
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“absence of reliable data on the homeless population represents one of the
most significant data gaps in our knowledge and understanding of poverty in
Ireland”
- Corrigan, C., Fitzgerald, E., Bates, J., and Matthews, A. (2002) Data
Sources on Poverty. Dublin: Combat Poverty Agency
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"The major technical obstacle to thestudy of the homeless lies in the fact that
conventional censuses and surveys are premised on the assumption that
almost all persons can be reached and queried in their dwellings, a premise
that is untenable by definition when dealing with the homeless." Rossi, (1987)
'No good social research goes unpunished, Society , Nov – Dec, pp. 77-8
Quantifying homelessness
8. the Counted In surveys in Dublin
9. the PASS system (= administrative data)
10. new question asked in the 2011 Census
11. the 3-yearly counts under the 1988 Housing
Act, section 9
8. Counted In (various years)
Survey of those accessing homeless services in the
Dublin area:
Research body? Dublin Region Homeless Executive,
formerly the Homeless Agency, formerly the Homeless
Initiative)
How often? 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008
(superseded by the PASS system and by the new
Census 2011 question on homelessness)
Online? www.homelessagency.ie/Facts/HomelessFigures.aspx
Availability to researchers? No, original dataset
9. Pathway Accommodation and
Support System (PASS)
Research body? Managed by the Dublin Region
Homeless Executive
Data selection and collection? an online
system providing ‘real-time’ information in terms
of homeless presentation and bed occupancy
across the Dublin region.
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Will allow gathering of data re presentation to
homeless services and use of hostel
accommodation.
Availability to researchers? Not currently
10. Census 2011
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a new category in relation to question on living
arrangements in the 2011 Census for those in
hostel and other accommodation
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(results in Aug 2012)
required under EU law: Regulation (EU) No
519/2010 – see Eurostat (2010) EU legislation on
the 2011 Population and Housing Censuses
Explanatory Notes
l
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„a first ever Census figure for the homeless population in Ireland,
including rough sleeping (Dublin only) for the year 2011 (Census
night was April 11th 2011)
illustrate the spatial distribution of the Irish homeless population
across urban and rural spatial units at regional scales and at other
scales where possible
provide data on the following aspects of the Irish homeless
population: age; marital status; family composition; nationality and
ethnicity; disability, general health and wellbeing; level of education;
economic status and religious beliefs“
May June Issue Pathway 2012 | 29 June, 2012
–
http://thehomelessagency.newsweaver.co.uk/newsletter/1t3xui9jp
7v1p3kguuiujn?a=1&p=25566745&t=19687805
11. Statutory 3-yearly enumeration
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Data collection agencies? local authorities (and Dublin
Homeless Agency / Dublin Region Homeless Executive in
Dublin area)
The 3 year counts are intended to be a complete enumeration
of the hss population, allowing a more or less detailed picture at
local level.
They have now been amalgamated with the 3-yearly
assessments of social housing need (see above)
Counted In was the more detailed survey in the Dublin area that
met this statutory requirement (see above)
12. rough sleeper count in Dublin
area
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Data collection agency? Dublin Region Homeless Executive
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Data selection? Aims at a census of relevant population
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How often? every six months (April and Nov) from Nov 2007
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Online? Headline stats at
www.homelessagency.ie/Facts/Homeless-Figures.aspx
Availability to researchers? No, original dataset not available
How many homeless?
Irish Homelessness (households)
•
2002
2,468
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2005
1,987
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2008
1,394
= a reduction of 593 on 2005 figure (-29.9%)
= a reduction of 1074 on 2002 figure (-41.9%)
Source: Annual Housing Statistics Bulletin 2008 Appendix II
How many homeless?
•
2011 2,348
= an increase of 68% on the 2008 figure
Source: Assessment of Social Housing Need 2011
How many rough sleeping in Dublin area?
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87 persons on the night of 9th Nov 2011
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An increase of 17 from Nov 2010
EXCURSUS # 2
the contexts of homelessness measures
Homelessness is the most acute form of housing
poverty.
Measuring homelessness raises issues of
-definition
-politics
-methods
MEASURING
DEFINITIONS
HOMELESSNESS:
Housing Act 1988, Section 2 open to interpretation:
-narrowly (those sleeping rough, in hostels and
county homes etc.)
-more broadly (to include those living in
accommodation that they cannot be ‘reasonably
expected’ to continue to live in due to poor quality,
overcrowding, domestic disputes, threat of
eviction.)
Homeless definitions
In practice, the definition was interpreted narrowly
The earlier Assessments of Homelessness provided
limited data
Such poor data makes analysis of trends difficult!
Why the contested estimates of hsss?
THE POLITICS OF MEASUREMENT
Advocacy groups generally estimate larger homeless populations than do statutory
bodies:
a felt need to show very large numbers of homeless people
See Rossi (1989)
Wright et al. (1998) Beside the Golden Door
O'Sullivan, and O'Connor, in Downey (ed.)
Perspectives on Irish Homelessness
Statutory bodies may downplay the extent of the problem
-They may feel that improving facilities or supplying housing (in response to large
.
‘counts’) may ‘worsen’ the social problem e.g
-attract demand from adjoining areas (where their traditional role is to cater to ‘locals’)
-‘encourage’ e.g. young people who might otherwise have resolved family differences to leave
home.
-Budgetary / capacity constraints
MEASURING HOMELESSNESS:
METHODS
a. Stock or flow measures?
b. Difficulties in counting different categories of homeless
c. Number of bodies involved in data collection raises data
quality issues
Stock or flow measures?
A stock measure counts the number of homeless
at a particular point in time
a flow measure counts the total number of
persons who experience homelessness over a
longer period (usually a year).
Difficulties in counting different
categories of homeless
the easiest category of the visible hss to count are
those in shelters and in B&Bs; more difficult to
count rough sleepers.
- easier to count those in contact with hss services
- see the ETHOS typology of homelessness at
www.feantsa.org
Variety of bodies involved in data
collection
Town councils, borough councils, city councils
and county councils
Raises issues of consistency of data collection
methods
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The politically contested nature of hsss stats:
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Note how the Dub stats are particularly sensitive,
given the existence of an action plan with targets,
and with an agency 'responsible' for these
outcomes.
–
what is role of academic research?
• Rossi (1989) 'No good social research goes unpunished'