Poverty and Deprivation - CSO (2024)

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Households were asked if they had arrears, i.e. failed to make a payment in time during the 12 months prior to the date of interview due to financial difficulties, on mortgage or rental payments; utility bills; hire purchase instalments or other loan payments. The answer categories were ‘yes, once’; ‘yes, twice or more’; ‘no’.

In 2021, of the 55.6% households making mortgage or rent payments, one in ten (11%) said they had arrears on mortgage or rental payments, with 8.4% failing to make a payment on time twice or more in the past 12 months. Of the 32.3% of households that indicated they have hire purchase instalments or other loan payments, a similar proportion (10.7%) had arrears, with 7.1% failing to make a payment on time twice or more in the past 12 months. Of the 99.3% households indicating they pay utility bills, 7.0%, had arrears on utility bills, with 5.4% failing to make a payment on time twice or more. See tableSIA109and figure 3.10.

Analysis of arrears on mortgage or rental payments by tenure status, shows that 5.3% of owner-occupied households with an outstanding mortgage failed to make one or more payments on time in the past 12 months due to financial difficulties, compared with 16.2% of rented households.

Looking at arrears on utility bills by tenure status, shows that 3.1% of owner-occupied households missed at least one payment in the past 12 months, compared with 15.7% of rented or rent-free households. Analysis of arrears on hire purchase instalments or other loan payments by tenure shows that 5.7% of owner-occupied households with such payments had arrears in 2021, compared with 21.1% of rented or rent-free households. See table SIA110.

By household composition, of those making the relevant payments, over one in five households composed of one adult and one or more children aged under 18 had arrears on mortgage or rental payments (22.2%); utility bills (25.0%); and hire purchase instalments or other loan payments (23.3%). This compares with fewer than one in ten households consisting of two adults with one to three children under 18 with arrears on mortgage or rental payments (9.3%); utility bills (7.4%); and hire purchase instalments or other loan payments (9.4%). See tableSIA109and figure 3.11.

When analysing households making mortgage or rent payments by poverty status, we see that one in five households (19.5%) that were at risk of poverty failed to make one or more mortgage or rental payments on time in last 12 months, compared with one in ten households (9.7%) not at risk of poverty.

Focusing on arrears on utility bills by poverty status, 16.0% of households at risk of poverty had arrears on utility bills, compared with 5.5% of those not at risk of poverty. Of households not experiencing deprivation, 2.8% had arrears on utility bills, while one in three (33.0%) of those experiencing deprivation had arrears, with more than one in four (27.4%) missing a payment at least twice. Similarly, 5.5% of households not in consistent poverty had arrears on utility bills, compared with 38.6% of those living in consistent poverty. See tableSIA112 and figure 3.12.