336,000 people in rural Ireland living on less than €10, 786 per annum

A survey on income and living conditions published by the Central Statistics Office has found that poverty rate in rural Ireland is 4.5% higher than in urban areas.

The study found that people living in the Border, Midland and Western region has the highest ‘at risk of poverty’ rate, with  income after tax and any social welfare transfers  16% lower than for those living in the Southern and Eastern regions.

“There are approximately 336,000 people in rural Ireland living in poverty” said Michelle Murphy, research and policy analyst with Social Justice Ireland.

 She added."This means that over 336,000 people in rural Ireland are surviving on incomes of less than €10,786 per annum."

Meanwhile A new study from UNICEF on the impact of the recession on children  in 41 developed countries places Ireland close to the bottom of the list.

The report has ranked Ireland in 37th place in the league table measuring relative changes in child poverty.

Only Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland finished below Ireland in the UNICEF league table.