Many poor families are living in fear of people in their own communities, with both children and adults being bullied and picked upon, according to a new study.
The in-depth survey of 30 low-income households shows that one in four children reported experiencing bullying at school, while lone mothers felt targeted because they did not have a male partner.
Almost half the families who took part in the research launched in Dublin yesterday were "sinking" under the burden of the debt they incurred to make up for inadequate income, its authors found.
The survey, Against all Odds - Family Life on a Low Income in Ireland, is based on a detailed investigation in late 2000 of 78 people in 30 families; 20 living in a large suburb in west Dublin, and 10 in a town and a rural area in the west of the State.
The report, commissioned by the Combat Poverty Agency, included 50 adults and 28 children aged between 11 and 16, most living on social welfare benefits. A third of the households were headed by lone mothers.
The families, amongst the poorest in Ireland, lived on an average of €124 per week per adult and €50 per child. Two-thirds had no money left over in a typical week after paying bills and other outgoings. Many were in arrears on rent, electricity and telephone bills.
The researchers, from Queen's University Belfast, found that money was carefully controlled, with the needs of families, and children in particular, put first. Rural families were generally better off than urban ones as they could get loans on the basis of having land as an asset to borrow against.
Poor health was common, with one in three households reporting health problems in relation to children. Parents in these families also tended to suffer from ill-health.
At least one parent in two-thirds of households worried about their children in relation to the area where they lived. This concern, primarily voiced by families in Dublin, related to lack of amenities, as well as worries about drugs and joy-riding.
About a third of people felt they did not get on well with their neighbours. "Rather than being well-integrated into their local areas, almost half of the Dublin-based households suggested that they lived in fear of people who lived or operated locally," the report says.
"There was considerable evidence that many adults felt bullied and picked upon, an experience that they shared with their children. Lone mothers were very vulnerable in this regard - they felt their homes were more likely to be targeted because it was known that there was no man living there."
The report's co-author, Prof Mary Daly, said she was "really shocked" at the level of poverty encountered during the survey, with many people living in dreadful conditions.
Almost half the families surveyed were "sinking under the burden of debt and the problem is that they are beginning to incur a serious pattern of debt with little or no prospect of improving their income situation."
The families had two very important resources; strong family solidarity, with family relationships crucial in helping people to keep going when times were tough, as well as a sense of optimism, she added.
The director of the Combat Poverty Agency, Ms Helen Johnston, said increases in social welfare benefits, as well as payments to those on employment and training schemes, had to be a key part of any response to the findings.
She said: "At the moment some of the main welfare payments are too low for families to manage to live adequately in today's society. This study re-emphasises the need to move towards meeting the Government's target minimum social welfare rate of €150 per week."