Almost all households dependent on social welfare payments cannot live a dignified life, according to calculations by the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) and the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice.
The two organisations today announced an online living standards calculator which gives the minimum income necessary to live a dignified life for a range of different household types.
The Minimum Income Standard calculator calculates a minimum basic income for families with children - one and two parent; adults of working age living alone; pensioner-couple households and pensioners living alone.
The calculations have been arrived at following focus groups with the public on what they believe is a minimum standard below which no household should have to fall. The focus was on needs not wants, said Dr Bernadette Mac Mahon, director of the Vincentian Partnership, but was concerned with more than mere survival.
The calculator is "for we the people, not they the poor" she said and takes in access to a social life, entertainment, reading materials and transport, as well a nutritious diet, heat and clothes,
It is expected to be particularly useful for people negotiating with creditors such as banks and utility providers, in coming to acceptable repayment plans.
The calculator works by the user inputting information about their household.
A series of questions are asked, including whether the household is urban or rural; the children's ages if there are children; the number of adults and whether they are working full or part-time; the housing type - social, private rented or owner-occupied; and the monthly rent or mortgage.
For instance, a one-parent household where the parent is working full-time with two children aged two and 10, in an urban house with a mortgage of €1,400 per month needs an annual income of €63,277,76 per year, according to the calculator.
An unemployed person, living in a rural area, in private rented accommodation with a rent of €400 per month and rent supplement of €80 per week, is said to not have a sufficient essential income and to need an additional €164.57 per week.
This is based on an assumed need for €432.57 per week. Among the weekly costs, according to the calculator, such a person would have are €84.91 for food, €13.60 for clothing,€7.70 for household charges and €44.83 for household fuel.
Michael Culloty, national development officer for social policy and communications with MABS said the availability of a standard benchmark for the retention of income was "vitally important in the current climate".
When people were under particular pressure with debts there was a danger they would bow to the pressure of creditors and make promises to pay back amounts they could not keep up and live a basic life.
Among those at the launch today were representatives of the Educational Building Society, ACC Bank, New Beginning, Bank of Ireland, National Irish Bank and Ulster Bank, as well as representatives from the Department of Social Protection.
