Northern Ireland
Location of low income
Key points
- Data on rates of low income is not available at a sub-regional level. For people of pensionable age, the best sub-regional data relates to those in receipt of the guaranteed Pension Credit - and as this is a means-tested benefit available to most low-income pensioners, variations in its geographic prevalence should be a reasonably good proxy for variations in the geographic prevalence of low-income pensioners. For people of working-age, the only directly relevant data relates to those in receipt of out-of-work benefits - but as a) this does not include anyone who is in low income because they are low paid and b) it includes everyone in receipt of out-of-work disability benefits even though they are not means-tested, variations in its geographic prevalence are not necessarily a good proxy for variations in the geographic prevalence of low-income working-age people. For example, the proportion of low-income people who are in working families (as opposed to workless ones) is much higher in rural areas than in urban areas, at least in England (see the indicator on low income by work status in rural England). As a result, the relative ranking of rural areas by benefit recipiency will tend to place them lower in the rankings than would be the case for low income. With these caveats in mind, this indicator provides an analysis of the geography of benefit recipiency.
- The proportion of working-age people who are in receipt of out-of-work benefits is much higher in Strabane, Derry and Belfast than elsewhere - twice the rate of some other areas. With the exceptions of Moyle and Fermanagh, the proportion is always higher in the western districts than in the eastern ones.
- There is substantial variation in the proportion receiving the guarantee part of Pension Credit across the districts of Northern Ireland, ranging from 38% in Cookstown to 13% in Carrickfergus and Castlereagh, a ratio of almost three to one. At 31%, Belfast occupies a middle position. With a small number of exceptions (particularly Magherafelt and Armagh), districts in the far west and south west have higher proportions than other districts, including Belfast.
Graph 1: Working-age by LA
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Working-age map
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Graph 2: Retired by LA
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Retired map
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Definitions and data sources
There is no direct data on the location of low income people within Northern Ireland. In this context, this indicator looks at the location of people who are reliant on the state for their income.
The first graph and map show, for February 2007, how the proportion of working-age people in receipt of one or more 'key out-of-work benefits' varies by local authority.
'Key out-of-work benefit' covers the following benefits: Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance
The second graph and map show, for February 2007, how the proportion of people aged 60 and over in receipt of the guaranteed part of Pension Credit varies by local authority.
The data source for all the graphs and maps is the quarterly Department for Social Development benefit statistics publications.