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• €30.6 billion was spent on Social Protection payments in 2020, an increase of 46% compared to 2019
• 30% of general Government expenditure spent on Social Protection in 2020
• €9 billion spent on supports related to Covid-19 pandemic
• Over 1.2 million people received at least one payment from the PUP, TWSS and EWSS, with an average payment of €7,200

Monday, 9th August 2021

Social Protection Minister, Heather Humphreys TD, has today announced the publication of the Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services Annual Report 2020.

This report sets out data relating to the expenditure, recipients and beneficiaries of the schemes administered by the Department – including the schemes introduced as part of the Government’s emergency response to the Covid-19 Pandemic – across what will be remembered as an exceptional year.

Among the details provided are, breakdowns of scheme by age, gender and county, and ten year trends on expenditure and the numbers of recipients and beneficiaries.

The statistics included in the Report show that:

• Social Protection expenditure accounted for almost 9% of GDP in 2020, an increase from 6% in 2019;
• Over 1.2 million people were supported for at least one week by the PUP, TWSS or the EWSS schemes;
• Almost 70,000 recipients received Enhanced Illness Benefit payments, at a cost of €57 million;
• Social Insurance Fund schemes and administration expenditure amounted to €14.1 billion, an increase of €4.1billion (40.6%) compared with 2019;
• Total spending on Working Age Income Supports was €8.3 billion in 2020, an increase of over €5 billion (156%) from the previous year. COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment accounted for almost 60% of this expenditure. Jobseeker’s Allowance and Jobseeker’s Benefit recorded an increase in both expenditure and recipients in 2020;
• Child related payments amounted to €2.6 billion in 2020, with Child Benefit comprising €2.1 billion of this expenditure. Child Benefit was paid to 633,000 families in respect of 1.2 million children in 2020.

Minister Humphreys welcomed the report, saying:

“This report reflects the exceptional role that my Department played in providing an income support to so many people during an extremely difficult year.

“Throughout 2020, some €9 billion in Covid-19 related expenditure issued to some 1.2 million people – demonstrating the scale of the undertaking by Government.

“While the hard work involved in processing all of these emergency payments ensured that payments were made promptly, the everyday work of my Department on all other schemes continued as normal.

“This report provides a valuable insight into many of these schemes, including Pensions, Child Income Supports and Illness and Disability payments.

“The report also details the scale of the impact of Covid-19 on the economy in Ireland. As Minister for Social Protection, I am committed to helping people return to work, or retrain and upskill if their previous job is no longer there for them.”

The Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services Annual Report 2020 can be viewed here.

ENDS

Press Office Contact Details

E: press.office@welfare.ie

T: 01 704 3082

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Notes for Editor

Appendices on Supplementary Statistics and Covid-19 Supports follow.

Appendix 1 – Supplementary statistics

Pensions

• Total spending on Pensions was €8.5 billion in 2020, representing an annual increase of 3.5%.
• Almost 670,000 received a State Pension at year end 2020
• There were 7.6% more people receiving the State Pension (Contributory) pension aged 85 years or more in 2020 compared to 2019.

Recipients of main State Pension benefits in 2020

Illness, Disability and Caring

• There was €4.7 billion spent on illness, disability and caring payments in 2020, an increase of €264 million (5.9%) compared to 2019. Carer’s Allowance and Disability Allowance accounted for €2.7 billion of this expenditure, recording increases of 7.4% and 6.2% respectively.
• The number of recipients on Disability Allowance increased by 5,825 to 152,580 in 2020 (an increase of 4.0%). Since 2011 the recipient numbers on this scheme have grown by 48.3%.
• Carer’s Allowance expenditure has increased by 66% since 2011.
• Of the 88,906 people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, 68,274 (77%) were female, while one in five were aged 65 years or over.

Appendix 2 – Covid-19 Supports

The total expenditure across the main COVID-19 employment income support (PUP) and wage supports (EWSS and TWSS) for 2020 was €8.9 billion.

Estimated expenditure of the PUP, TWSS and EWSS and Total, by county in 2020

• Overall, men received 57% of all allocated expenditure across these three schemes. Across the age groups, the percentage of expenditure amounts paid to males varied from 48% for people under 20 years of age, to 62% for people aged 60 years or over.
• Over 1.2 million people were supported for at least one week by the PUP, TWSS or the EWSS schemes in 2020. Note that an individual may have been in receipt of one, two or all three of these schemes at various points throughout 2020, but not at the same time.
• Of these, 463,473, or 38%, received support from the PUP only, 238,859 (19%) recipients were supported by the TWSS alone, while 56,305 (5%) were supported by the EWSS only. One in eight people (150,627) received at least one payment from each of the three schemes.
• In 2020, an estimated €5.1 billion was spent on the PUP scheme.
• Dublin had the highest overall expenditure of any county (€1.6 billion), which accounted for 32% of all PUP expenditure, followed by Cork (€502 million) and Galway (€277 million).
• The Accommodation and Food service activities sector had the highest overall expenditure on PUP (€1.2 billion), followed by the Wholesale and Retail trade sector (€756 million) and the Construction sector (€505 million).
• A total of 788,524 people received at least one PUP payment in 2020, of which 44% were female and 56% were male.
• The sector with the highest number of individuals receiving at least one weekly PUP payment was Accommodation and food service activities (164,649), followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (128,516), Construction (97,200) and Admin and support service activities (64,131). Combined, these four sectors comprised 58% of all PUP recipients.
• The median number of weekly PUP payments claimed by an individual was 17. The Accommodation and Food service activities sector had the highest median number of payments claimed (24), while the Construction and Manufacturing sectors had the lowest median number of payments (both 11).
• A total of  367,362 households received an additional four week extension in Fuel Allowance as part of the response to the COVID-19 emergency, at an estimated cost of €40 million. Almost 60% of householders in receipt of this extension were aged 60 years or over.
• Over 8,900 people received COVID-19 supports for Rent Supplement.