AQW 35986/22-27

Ms Sian Mulholland
Alliance Party
North Antrim

Tabled Date: 20/11/2025
Answered On Date: 07/01/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities whether he has considered introducing and routinely publishing poverty indicators for Northern Ireland, as in the Republic of Ireland, which measure at-risk-of-poverty, enforced deprivation and consistent poverty.

Answer:

The official poverty measures for Northern Ireland (NI) and across the UK are relative and absolute poverty, which can be presented on both a before and after housing costs basis. The NI Poverty and Income Inequality Report is the primary source for statistics about poverty and income inequality in NI. Using data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS), it provides official annual estimates of the proportion of people, children, working-age adults and pensioners in NI living in poverty, and other statistics on material deprivation and income inequality.