Travellers over 50 are few, says ESRI

DISADVANTAGES SUFFERED by Travellers in a wide range of areas are highlighted in a study published today by the Economic and Social Research Institute.

It finds that comparatively few Travellers are aged over 50 and this is related to their “difficult living circumstances”, while disadvantage suffered by Travellers in education is “very stark”.

A study published this morning has found that a “severe disadvantage” in the age profile of Irish Travellers, with comparatively few aged over 50, is related to their “difficult living circumstances”.

It also found that Traveller disadvantage when it comes to education is “very stark”

These are among the findings by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in a study, Multiple Disadvantage in Ireland.

It was conducted by the ESRI on behalf of the Equality Authority.

It is based on comprehensive analysis of the full census 2006 research micro-data file.

This was the first time that such research has been done in Ireland when it came to examining disadvantage faced on all nine grounds that are covered under the Equality Acts.

Access to similar material from the 2011 census “will not be available for two or three years more” said Dorothy Watson (associate professor at the ESRI) at a briefing yesterday.

Prof Watson along with Pete Lunn, Emma Quinn and Helen Russell, prepared the study.

The nine grounds on which discrimination is prohibited under Equality Acts are gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community.

This study examined the risk of disadvantage in Ireland associated with all nine.

It found that over half of Ireland’s Traveller population is under 20 (53 per cent) compared to 28 per cent of the general population, while just 9 per cent of Travellers are over 50 compared to 28 per cent of the rest of the adult white Irish population.

Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Irish Travellers have not completed a second-level education.

Those figures are 86 per cent in the 25-44 age group and 85 per cent of Travellers in the 45-64 age group.

The gap between Irish Travellers in the 25-44 group who have completed a second-level education and the equivalent Irish population in the same age group who have done so, is 64 percentage points.

In the 45-64 age group, the gap is 39 percentage points as most Travellers in the older age category do not live as long as the rest of the population.

Where the labour market was concerned, the study found “Irish Travellers in both age groups are markedly disadvantaged when compared with other white Irish people: 39 per cent of younger Irish Travellers and 51 per cent of older Irish Travellers are outside the labour market compared with 13 per cent and 31 per cent respectively for other white Irish adults”.

When it comes to actual employment, the study found that 74 per cent, or almost three-quarters, of young Irish Travellers are unemployed compared to 6 per cent of white Irish adults.

Some 67 per cent of Irish Travellers aged 45-64 are unemployed compared to 7 per cent of the white Irish adults in that category.

Even with education, the unemployment rate for younger Irish Travellers is 39 per cent compared with 4 per cent for their counterparts in the general population.

In the older categories, those figures are 31 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.

“These figures document the very real barriers to employment faced by Irish Travellers,” the study found.

The report also found that Travellers were much more likely than any other white Irish adults to be in the lower manual social class.

The “nomadic lifestyle of many Traveller families, combined with the prejudice they often encounter, creates severe problems in acquiring basic levels of educational qualification,” it said.

The full study is at esri.ieand equality.ie

ESRI STUDY  KEY FINDINGS

THE ECONOMIC and Social Research Institute (ESRI) study examined five categories where the disadvantaged were concerned: low levels of education; being outside the labour market; unemployment; lower manual social class; and lack of access to a car.

The focus was on adults of working age, that is 25 to 64 years. Some experienced disadvantage even allowing for education, such as Travellers, women, people with a disability, foreign nationals.

Some, a minority in numerical terms, did well, for example those with no religious affiliation.

Double disadvantage, involving those belonging to two at-risk groups, did not always mean double disadvantage in fact.

The study cautioned against generalisations.

The survey’s author, Dorothy Watson, said that “some groups do well in terms of education but not in terms of labour market, and vice versa”.

She added: “Also, being a member of two different disadvantaged groups does not always result in the worst outcomes.”