I’m attempting to see does it pay in Ireland in 2022 for you to work Work vs getting Welfare.
We don’t see much coverage of this at all, probably because it’s quite hard to work out.
Below I will set out some examples including
- Single person (under & over 45)
- Married (under & over 45) with 2 kids (under & over 12), 1 adult working
- Married (under & over 45) with 2 kids (under & over 12), 2 adults working, and creche
For each below there is an overall calculation where you can see if I earn this much I’d equal what I’d get not working. But of course, you’d only work if you were making more than welfare, so I’ve calculated how much gross salary is needed to get an extra €5,000 and €10,000 net in your hand.
Certain items are dependant on each case, such as how much your rent is for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). The current HAP max allowances are being breached in many cases esp. in Dublin as rents soar.
For the value/cost of Medical & GP Visit cards, I’ve taken a Govt report from Oct 2018. Couldn’t find anything more recent but that cost will surely have gone up since then.
For the value of Creche, I’ve gone with 850 monthly. It’s higher in Dublin but lower in other counties.
Some costs I have not attempted to quantify, such as
-commuting cost (€ and time)
-cost for coffee breaks/lunch
-time spent working and not with your family
If you spot any errors or items I’ve omitted let me know. I’ll update it as I get better data.
Edits:
- I also didn’t discuss free social housing here. That can take a decade or more to achieve but it does happen for many long-term unemployed eventually. The rental calculation here will equate roughly to a mortgage payment for workers so I’ve used that instead.
- Updated Feb 2023 with latest figures
