Earnings Among Parents in Ireland 2016 & 2022

Key Findings

• In 2022, females in one-parent families with children accounted for 7.1% of total female employments, while males in one-parent families with children made up 0.7% of total male employments. This was similar to 2016, when females in one-parent families accounted for 7.9% of total female employments and males in one-parent families accounted for 0.7% of total male employments.

• Median weekly earnings were lowest for employments among one-parent families with children at €491.20 and highest for employments among married couples with children at €911.35.

• Median weekly earnings among males in married couples were 35.3% higher than among males in one-parent families with children, while females in married couples with children had earnings 63.2% higher than their counterparts in one-parent families.

• Weekly earnings were higher among males compared with females across all family unit types.

• In general, the distribution of earnings among males in each family unit type followed a similar trend to the total male population, while a considerably higher proportion of females in one-parent families with children were at the lower end of the distribution, compared with other females.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (02 July 2024) issued Earnings Among Parents in Ireland for 2016 and 2022.

Commenting on the data, Dr Eimear Heffernan, Statistician in the Earnings Analysis Division, said: "In 2022, females in one-parent families with children accounted for 7.1% of total female employments, while males in one-parent families with children made up 0.7% of total male employments.

Median weekly earnings were lowest for employments among one-parent families with children at €491.20 and highest for employments among married couples with children at €911.35. In 2022, median weekly earnings for employments among parents in married couples with children were 85.5% higher than those among one-parent families. This compares with 91.4% in 2016.

Median weekly earnings among males in married couples with children were 35.3% higher than males in one-parent families with children, while females in married couples with children had earnings 63.2% higher than their counterparts in one-parent families. Weekly earnings were higher among males compared with females across all family unit types.

Earnings Gap

In 2022, the largest earnings gap between female parents in married couples and one-parent families was in the 25-34 years age group where median weekly earnings among females in married couples with children were 102.2% higher than their one-parent counterparts. The disparity in earnings reduced with age, with the smallest gap in the 55-59 years age cohort with females in a married couple with children earning 18.7% more than those in one-parent families.

Earnings Distribution

In general, the distribution of earnings among males in each family unit type followed a similar trend to the total male population, while a considerably higher proportion of females in one-parent families with children were at the lower end of the distribution, compared with other females. In 2022, 15.9% of males in one-parent families had weekly earnings of less than €450 compared with 12.1% of the total male population. In contrast, almost half (49.1%) of females in one-parent families recorded weekly earnings of less than €450, which was considerably higher than the proportion of the total female population in this earnings bracket (26.0%)."

Editor's Note

This release presents statistics on earnings based on administrative data sources. The primary data sources are employee tax data from the Revenue Commissioners and the Census of Population (COP) 2016 and 2022. For the purposes of this publication, the 'population' refers to employments included in the Earnings Analysis Using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS) dataset of relevant reference years, where employees are aged 25 to 59 years, inclusive. In terms of family units with children, the reference person and their partner/spouse were identified by the Census of Population (COP) 2016 and 2022. For the purposes of this publication, the term 'parent' refers to reference persons and their partner/spouse who are aged 25 to 59 years and who have at least one child under the age of 18 normally resident in the family unit, as determined by COP. It is important to note that both partners in a couple may not be the parents of the resident children. Earnings analysis was possible through linkage of these individuals to the Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS) dataset for the relevant reference years. The EAADS dataset is created using the Revenue PMOD file. Further information on EAADS methodology is available in the Background Notes.

Please note: Marital status was self-declared by individuals on Census of Population, 2016 and 2022.