Satisfaction with Life in Europe

europe

Parents, Children and Sense of Control. ESRI Research Bulletin 2011/3/2

To the extent that people believe that their own actions can bring about a valued outcome, they are said to have a “sense of control”. This is a key factor in understanding why people act as they do. When individuals feel that their actions can make a difference to important aspects of their lives, they are motivated to take action. If, on the other hand, they feel that their actions do not make a difference, there is little incentive to act. To what extent has the sense of control of adult children been affected by that of their parents? This question is addressed in a recent article.*

Social Housing in the Irish Housing Market. ESRI WP594, June 2018

This working paper traces the evolution of social supports for housing since 2004, including local authority (LA) housing, housing provided by Approved Housing Bodies (AHB) and support for renting in the private sector through schemes administered by the local government sector (Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) and the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP)) and the Rent Supplement scheme operated by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Given the increased use of the private sector to provide housing for low-income households, the paper draws on SILC data to examine changes between 2004 and 2015 in the quality of housing in different sectors, as measured by problems such as dampness, lack of central heating, lack of double glazing, insufficient light and noise. The main findings are:•The overall percentage of housing that is socially supported increased during the recession to 17% from 13% in theboom years (2004-2007, mainly via increased use of Rent Supplement) but dropped back towards pre-recessionlevels by 2015 (about 15%).•Growth in use of the private sector for socially-supported housing rose from 28% in the boom years to 42% during therecession before dropping back to 33% by 2016.•Housing quality improved between 2004 and 2015, with a drop from 16% to 9% in the percentage of people living indwellings with 2 or more of the five quality problems;•The improvements were significantly greater for those living in rented than owned/mortgaged dwellings, thoughrented dwellings remained at a disadvantage in 2015;•Improvements in quality in the rented sector were found across the income distribution

PLAYING SENIOR INTER-COUNTY GAELIC GAMES: EXPERIENCES, REALITIES AND CONSEQUENCES. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 76 September 2018

Given the developments that have taken place in Gaelic games over the past decade, particularly at the senior inter-county level, there is a concern that the demands that today’s games are placing on players are having negative effects on their lives. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) have introduced a number of measures to ensure that players’ needs are taken care of and that those who play enjoy their experience. Nevertheless, questions continue to be raised. Given this, the GAA and GPA jointly commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to conduct an independent examination of the commitment required to play senior inter-county, and the impact that this has on players’ personal and professional lives and club involvement. The research was primarily conducted through senior inter-county player workshops and a survey of 2016 players. Workshops were also conducted with 2016 senior inter-county managers, County Board Secretaries and third-level Games Development Officers (GDOs). What follows is a summary of the principal findings arising from the study, consideration of their implications for both player welfare and policy in this area, and some discussion on future directions

Access to Childcare and Home Care Services across Europe. An Analysis of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC), 2016. Social Inclusion Report No 8. September 2019

This report uses EU-SILC data for 2016 to examine differences by social risk group and social class in access to care services – specifically, childcare and home care for people with an illness or disability. We focus on 11 countries and four welfare regimes across Europe. We also examine the association between access to these services and both poverty and employment. There are three main findings. First, countries with universal services, or a strong welfare state, provide greater access to care overall, and greater access for vulnerable social risk and social class groups. Countries with means tested services offer lower coverage which results in a greater chance of unmet need for care. Second, certain social-risk groups have a higher chance of experiencing unmet need for childcare and home care. Social class or household composition differences within such groups cannot fully explain their likelihood of reporting unmet need. This suggests that social-risk groups are particularly vulnerable to unmet need. Third, unmet need for childcare and home care is associated with deprivation and, in the case of childcare, non-employment. In this way, unmet need for childcare in particular may act as a barrier to labour market participation. Although our analysis cannot establish a causal link between the two, unmet care need and non-employment are related, and could be a significant force for social exclusion. Policy efforts should limit the experience of unmet care needs

SATISFACTION WITH LIFE IN EUROPE. ESRI Research Bulletin 2010/2/2

What makes Europeans satisfied with their lives? Do supportive relationships and the quality of public services matter? Do some things matter more to poor than to rich European citizens? These were some of the questions addressed in a recent report** using data on 31 countries from the 2007 European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS)

Who earns, who shares and who decides: Does it matter for individual deprivation in couples? ESRI Research Bulletin 2016/1/3

Research on poverty usually assumes that household income is shared equally among household members so that they all benefit from the same living standard. This assumption has been criticised, however, by some who argue that differences in power within the household – typically linked to who receives the income or who makes the decisions – may mean that some members of households enjoy better access to goods and services than others. One possibility is that since women are less likely to have earned income, their bargaining power will be decreased and they will have higher levels of deprivation than their male partners. This study examined couple families in Ireland to test whether this was the case

The Likely Economic Impact of Increasing Investment in Wind on the Island of Ireland. ESRI WP334. December 2009

This working paper supplements the report by Scott and Watson (2006) published by the Environmental Protection Agency. That report found that a weight-based charging regime introduced in West Cork (in the town of Clonakilty) in 2003 reduced the weight of waste put out by residents by 45 per cent. Results from recent studies are consistent with this finding, with reductions of 47 per cent and 43 per cent from weight-based charges found by O’Callaghan-Platt and Davies (2008) and Curtis et al (2009), respectively. The question still remains as to whether or not the charging reform was worthwhile. This paper addresses that question

Fuel Poverty: a Matter of Household Resources or a Matter of Dwelling Efficiency? ESRI Research Bulletin 2015/2/3

The concept of fuel poverty refers to the inability to afford adequate heat (and other energy services) in the home. There is increasing concern with fuel poverty, because of rising energy prices in recent years and because the recession has left many struggling to heat their homes. This raises the issue of whether fuel poverty is a genuinely distinct form of poverty which might require specific policy responses. The present study looked at the evidence