Council warns on worsening social inequality

Many of Ireland's social problems are worsening despite our economic success, according to a new report from the National Economic and Social Council.

The report says that while economic growth has made a huge contribution to social progress, stubborn social problems remain.

Dr John Sweeney, of the council's secretariat, said that while policy makers had for over a decade been "singing from the same hymn sheet" on the economy, there had not been the same level of applied thinking to social planning.

"The implementation of formally agreed strategies can be weak, leadership is frequently contested . . . and social policy as a whole is not sufficiently aligned with the economic policies being pursued by the State."

Titled The Developmental Welfare State, the report calls for a transformation in the way economic and social planning are approached and provides a comprehensive analysis of the Irish welfare state.

The term "developmental welfare state" sees economic progress and social planning as complementary in a system that would support the vulnerable and enable each person to reach their full potential.

The report says that although absolute per capita levels of social spending have increased, in real terms deep social inequities remain. Policy makers had been "attempting to solve social challenges for a long time", said Dr Sweeney. He pointed in particular to educational disadvantage, homelessness, long times spent by people on welfare, area disadvantage and the situation of the Travelling community.

"And they are not going away," he said. "In fact it's becoming a harsher experience to be in any of these situations because Irish society generally is more educated, affluent and geared to employment."

The report gives numerous examples of worsening problems. In Dublin 38 per cent of male students are not taking the Leaving Certificate, with the proportion rising to 60 to 65 per cent in disadvantaged areas.

Though unemployment has fallen, dependence on means-tested social welfare by people of working age has actually increased, suggesting many of the new jobs are low paid.

Socio-economic inequities begin at birth, says the report. The proportion of low birth weights has risen (from 4.2 per cent at the start of the 1990s to 5 per cent today) with mothers from socio-economically deprived areas the worst affected.

Dr Sweeney also pointed to increasingly unsustainable work-life tensions. "What many women in particular are having to do in order both to hold a decent job and be good mothers is bad for their health, their children and almost nullifying the financial return of work."

Spending on services was as important as monetary transfers to individuals. In particular the range and quality of services is critical, says the report. It argues that the single most important route to improving social protection is the thorough development of public services - especially health, education and housing.

Ireland's welfare state is not mainly universal as in Scandinavia, or mainly insurance-based as on the Continent, or mainly residual as in Britain, but a hybrid. This is a strength, says the report, and the aspects should be enhanced as necessary.

The core structure of a "developmental welfare state" would be based in three overlapping areas: services, income supports and activist measures, such as focused work by community groups.

It stresses the need for an end to the jealous protection of territories by different government departments and authorities with regard to delivering social services.