Carbon taxes, poverty and compensation options

Abstract

The mission of the Economic and Social Research Institute is to advance evidencebased policymaking that supports economic sustainability and social progress in Ireland. ESRI researchers apply the highest standards of academic excellence to challenges facing policymakers, focusing on 12 areas of critical importance to 21st Century Ireland. The Institute was founded in 1960 by a group of senior civil servants led by Dr T. K. Whitaker, who identified the need for independent and in-depth research analysis to provide a robust evidence base for policymaking in Ireland. Since then, the Institute has remained committed to independent research and its work is free of any expressed ideology or political position. The Institute publishes all research reaching the appropriate academic standard, irrespective of its findings or who funds the research. The quality of its research output is guaranteed by a rigorous peer review process. ESRI researchers are experts in their fields and are committed to producing work that meets the highest academic standards and practices. The work of the Institute is disseminated widely in books, journal articles and reports. ESRI publications are available to download, free of charge, from its website. Additionally, ESRI staff communicate research findings at regular conferences and seminars. The ESRI is a company limited by guarantee, answerable to its members and governed by a Council, comprising 14 members who represent a cross-section of ESRI members from academia, civil services, state agencies, businesses and civil society. The Institute receives an annual grant-in-aid from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to support the scientific and public interest elements of the Institute's activities; the grant accounted for an average of 30 per cent of the Institute's income over the lifetime of the last Research Strategy. The remaining funding comes from research programmes supported by government departments and agencies, public bodies and competitive research programmes.

The dynamics of child poverty in Ireland: Evidence from the Growing Up in Ireland survey

“…The value of core welfare supports for lone parents and other jobless households remains critical to reducing child poverty, as well as income supports for working families and policies to address low pay. Increases in child-dependent allowances for welfare recipients are a well-targeted way of reducing child poverty (for example, O'Malley et al, 2020). The situation of large families has become less prominent in discussions of child poverty over recent decades.…”

“…These findings suggest a need for additional supports for child dependents. A recent analysis of measures to mitigate the costs of the carbon tax for low income families (O'Malley et al, 2020), demonstrated that increases to Qualified Children allowance for welfare recipients was a highly efficient method of targeting households below the poverty line. They estimated that a €4 per week rise in the qualified children payment would decrease the child poverty rate by half a percentage point even when introduced alongside a €7.50 increase in the carbon tax.…”

Diversity in transition: Is transitions research diverse (enough)?

“…The energy transition, could mitigate or worsen their energy poverty. A mitigating factor will be the drive to improve the thermal quality of homes, However, carbon taxes will increase heating bills (O'Malley et al, 2020), and these households can least afford to pay. Thus it is important to recognize singleparent households' needs, including access to power and resources.…”

Budget 2022

“…There were significant above-forecast inflation increases in the Fuel Allowance (a seasonal supplementary support payable to long-term recipients of certain social welfare payments, increased by 18 per cent or €5 per week) and the additional payments made to those living alone or with dependent children in receipt of social welfare payments (the Living Alone Increase and Increases for Qualified Children, which rose by 16 per cent and c.6 per cent respectively). Recipients of these benefits are more likely to be at risk of poverty and to spend a high share of their income on fuel than social welfare recipients living with other adults, making the measures well-targeted at mitigating -and potentially offsetting -the adverse impacts of the carbon tax increase on vulnerable low-income households (Bercholz and Roantree, 2019;O'Malley et al, 2020). There were smaller increases in the main social welfare payments for working-age couples without children, with the €5 per week rise in personal rates and proportional increases for dependent adults corresponding to a 2.5 per cent rise: just above the forecast rate of inflation.…”