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This paper compares social policy responses to the cost-of-living crisis in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland. In seeking to protect citizens from an inflationary shock, a series of fundamental social policy questions arise. What would the aims of support packages be? To what extent should support be universal or targeted? If targeted, did existing policy architectures facilitate or frustrate the targeting of support? As the scale and persistence of the inflationary shock became evident, smaller and near-universal responses gave way to larger support packages with a greater reliance on targeting. Social security systems played an important role in policy responses, though often by passporting one-off payments rather than a strengthening of these core programmes. Passporting led both to improved distributional outcomes vis-à-vis the more universal elements but created new administrative challenges and led to rough justice in some circumstances. The reliance on one-off payments underlined the temporary nature of policy responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the taxation system as a means of supporting contributions to pensions is a long standing and increasingly important policy tool. This paper examines the effectiveness of that tool using new data for Ireland in 2014. Looking at contributions from employees, employers and individuals into private pensions, we show the relatively small size of most pension contributions and highlight the challenges these imply for the adequacy of future pension income. Distributively, our results demonstrate a concentration of supports among those on the highest earnings and on the highest incomes and raise questions regarding the more efficient use of these resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As signs of economic recovery continue to emerge, issues relating to quality of life, living standards, the provision of public services and adequacy of income are returning to the policy sphere. Included among these are issues related to earnings and pay levels. This paper examines low pay both in the context of the distribution of earnings within the income distribution and the distribution of hourly earnings across all employees. While the analysis in the paper focuses on the latter, the paper grounds that assessment within the context of earnings among all workers, both employees and the self-employed. Overall the paper aims to provide greater clarity on the overall shape of earnings across the state and in particular to establish a more robust evidence base for our understanding of the nature and shape of low pay. The analysis implies some implications for policy and these are also explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first 40 years as an independent state, Ireland faced many difficulties. Failing to provide sufficient employment opportunities, emigration and austerity were constant themes. During several decades of relative prosperity from the 1960s, foreign investment was encouraged and created new employment opportunities. A recession in the 1980s was followed by a remarkable period of prosperity from the mid-1990s. This was driven first by an export boom and later by an unsustainable housing bubble. Serious risk taking by property developers and lax lending practices by banks led to a banking crisis and a financial rescue by the government, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission. A new austerity has returned. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]