A number of groups which are considered most vulnerable to poverty are identified in Chapter 2 of this report. They are:

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1 8. Conclusion 8.1 Who is Vulnerable to Poverty in Co. Kildare? A number of groups which are considered most vulnerable to poverty are identified in Chapter 2 of this report. They are: Local Authority Housing Tenants The Travelling Community Refugees & Asylum Seekers Lone Parents Migrants & Ethnic Minorities Children & Young People Women The Elderly People with Disabilities Persons in Private Rented Accommodation, Rent Free or on Housing Waiting Lists Local Authority Housing Tenants Areas with high concentrations of local authority housing stock are suggestive of low income areas. In Kildare the highest levels of rented local authority housing were in Rathangan and its hinterlands, Ballitore and Athy and its hinterlands The Travelling Community Members of the travelling community frequently find it difficult to access employment within the mainstream labour market (mainly due to direct and indirect discrimination) with the result that many Travellers are longterm unemployed and living on social welfare. Traveller families in Co. Kildare are mainly concentrated on the outskirts of Newbridge, around Athy and in the area just north of Carlow town Refugees & Asylum Seekers The most recent group of residents in the county that are subject to various forms of exclusion are refugees and asylum seekers. Because asylum seekers are not allowed to work they are entirely dependent on State assistance. There are no formal figures for the number of refugees/asylum seekers in Co. Kildare and perhaps this is something that needs to be researched in the future to find out how many people are in this vulnerable group and where within the county they are located Lone Parents Lone Parents tend to be at greater risk of poverty than the general population, mainly because of issues around childcare costs and the need for flexible working hours. Lone parent families make up almost one fifth of all families in Co. Kildare, and there are high proportions of lone parents in Athy, its hinterlands and Newbridge. More than 70% of those on Athy Town Councils housing list in 2005 were lone parents. It is also likely, given the information above, that lone parents make up a large proportion of the 5.1% of the population in the Newbridge area on the Kildare County Council housing list. 109

2 8.1.5 Migrants & Ethnic Minorities Economic migrants frequently experience difficulties with regard to housing, tenure of employment and social integration. Many EDs in the north east of Kildare had relatively high proportions of Polish Migrants, namely Naas Urban, Newbridge and Kilcock. The highest proportions of those from Lithuania were located in more rural parts of the north west and the hinterlands of Naas. The highest proportion of persons from the Rest of the World were found in the towns of Maynooth, Naas, Kildare and Celbridge. Almost one-fifth of those who were on Kildare County Councils housing list in 2006 were non-eu citizens and more than 7% were non-irish EU citizens Children & Young People Children are at greater risk of poverty than the adult population and poverty has a long-term affect on their lives. Kildare has a comparatively young population in the context of the State. The young population is particularly high around Naas, Newbridge, Kilcock, Clane, Celbridge, Rathangan and Kilcullen Women Research has shown that women are at greater risk of poverty than men and are more likely to have recurrent and longer spells in poverty. While the gender ratio for Co. Kildare is finely balanced, there are significant variations across the county in terms of gender divisions. Higher proportions of women were found in parts of the north west of the county, in the hinterlands of Athy, in the hinterlands of Ballitore and around Kildangan The Elderly Elderly persons are more likely to fall into poverty. Compared with the State, Kildare has a much lower proportion of those aged over 65 years and over 70 years. On a sub-county level the highest proportion of those aged over 65 years were in the south of the county around Athy, in the area between Kildare and Newbridge and just south of Naas. The highest proportion of those who were aged over 65 years and living alone were found in Rathangan and Newbridge and its hinterlands People With Disabilities Research indicates that people with disabilities are twice as likely to be poor as the rest of the population. Although Kildare has a relatively low proportion of persons with a disability compared with the State and its neighbouring counties, the distribution of persons with a disability within the county suggests that the highest incidences were towards the west of the county, particularly around Athy, Monasterevin, south of Enfield and around Suncroft/The Curragh Persons in Private Rented Accommodation, Rent Free accommodation or on Housing Waiting Lists People in rented accommodation, rent free accommodation or those on housing waiting lists are at greater risk of poverty. Private rented accommodation in Co. Kildare was concentrated around Maynooth (largely in this case due to the location of the University), generally in the north east of the county and within towns along the M7. Those in rent free accommodation were mainly concentrated in more rural areas in the middle and south of the county. The majority of those on the Kildare County Council housing list are located in parts of the west of the county such as Monasterevin, Kildare, Rathangan, in the hinterlands of Athy as well as the towns of Newbridge and Celbridge. 110 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare

3 8.2 What do the Poverty Indicators tell us? The aforementioned groups are those considered most vulnerable to poverty in the county. Although relevant to the entire population of Co. Kildare, the themes and indicators identified throughout the other chapters of this report have particular relevance for these groups Income Inadequacy Although Local Authority Housing tenants make up a relatively small proportion of the population of Co. Kildare (6.3%) and Kildare is below the State average of 8.8% in this respect, there are a number of pockets within the county where more than 15% of the population of an ED are living in local authority housing. This is particularly the case in areas around Rathangan, Ballitore, Athy and to a lesser extent Newbridge. What is very significant in terms of income inadequacy for this group is that more than 64% of Kildare County Council tenants make less than a per week putting them below the poverty threshold and as such at risk of poverty. Approximately 30.5% of the population of Kildare are in receipt of some type of Social Welfare Payment. While not all of these would have income difficulties per se, it is an important indicator of income inadequacy. Although data on social welfare recipients is currently only available at a county level it is hoped that in the future it might be possible to consider such administrative data on a more localized level and identify geographical areas within the county which might be more at risk of poverty than others. Deprivation indices for Kildare from 2002 highlight the obvious polarization between the most affluent areas of the county towards the north and east and the least affluent areas towards the south and west. This, more than any other indicator highlights the two very different geographies that exist in Co. Kildare: the wealthier, urban north east and the less affluent, rural south and west. Although interventions such as RAPID have targeted the Athy area, the increasing gap between urban and rural Kildare remains to be a difficulty for organizations tackling issues like poverty and social inclusion. Within the county, data on socioeconomic status in Kildare further highlights the major differences in social class between the north east of the county and the south and west of the county. Overall participation in the labour market in Co. Kildare at 63.9% is well in excess of that for the State (57.2%). In addition, the proportion of people from Kildare at work increased by more than double the increase for the State (58.6% compared with 25.8%) between 1996 and The unemployment rate for Kildare for 2006 was also well below that for the State (6.3% compared with 8.5%). Common with previous measures of income inadequacy, unemployment levels were highest in the west and south of the county and in Athy in particular. A further issue highlighted in this research around unemployment is that more than 40% of those in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance in Co. Kildare were aged under 29 years. In addition, the majority of those who are unable to work due to sickness/disability were located towards western parts of the county. EDs in the west of the county are also among those with the lowest levels of car ownership. Thus, in terms of income inadequacy, tackling unemployment, especially among people in western and southern parts of the county remains a challenge in Co. Kildare. In addition, incomes in areas where there are concentrations of local authority tenants, such as, Rathangan, Ballitore and Athy, remain low with two thirds of local authority tenants with incomes that would put them below the poverty threshold. Perhaps there is a need for targeted interventions in these areas in terms of educational and employment opportunities to enable people to acquire the skills to achieve better quality jobs and higher wage rates. 111

4 8.2.2 Economy & Dependency Taken at face value, the number of vehicles licensed for the first time in Co. Kildare in 2007 would perpetuate the myth of Kildare as a wealthy county. However, based on what we know to be true about differences below county level, if it were possible to break this data down to a sub-county level it is likely that a very different picture would emerge between vehicle registrations in the more affluent areas of the north and east and the less well off areas of the south and west. Although Co. Kildare has the lowest elderly dependency ratio of its neighbours, elderly dependency below county level is highest around Kildare town, Newbridge, south of Naas and in the hinterlands of Athy. Conversely, among its neighbours, Kildare is second only to Meath in terms of youth dependency. Below county level the highest rates of youth dependency were observed around Kilcock, Naas, Kilcullen and Rathangan. Although, as a county, Kildare has a smaller proportion of economically inactive people than economically active people, when Economic Dependency Ratios are considered at ED level, generally rural parts of Kildare have higher dependency ratios, with the highest ratios in the south and west of the county. Available information on labour force participation rates, further emphasizes the economic dominance of the north east of the county. What they also highlight is the high levels of females in Kildare participating in the labour force. A major consequence of this is the difficulty in accessing affordable childcare facilities in the county. Existing research (Roche, M. et al, 2006) and anecdotal evidence suggests that due to population pressures and the fact that 90% of childcare services in Kildare are privately run, affordability of childcare in Co. Kildare is a major issue. In order to tackle this issue further research on the average cost of childcare and its availability in different parts of the county is warranted. Economically, on the surface, Kildare looks good and appears to have low dependency rates. However, when available information is considered at a more local level the pattern is quite different with distinctive patterns of dependency in the county Health & Social Services People suffering from poor health or those caring for a person who is elderly or who needs full-time care are at a greater risk of poverty. A quarter of the population of Kildare are covered by a medical card. Unfortunately at present it is not possible to identify the locations of the majority of this population as data is currently not available on a sub-county level. It is hoped that more detailed research on medical card holders in Co. Kildare and their locations within the county in the future would be made possible by some collaborative research with the HSE. There are 0.34 GPs per thousand population in Kildare which is significantly below the 0.47 rate for the State and the rate of 1 per thousand at EU level. The Electoral Areas (EAs) of Clane, Athy and Celbridge had the lowest GP per thousand ratios. This suggests that in the future the HSE should encourage more GPs to set up practices in these areas in an effort to keep up with significant population growth therein. Although carers in Co. Kildare are distributed throughout the county, high proportions of them are located in the south of the county along the route of the N9 and in the north west of the county. In addition, it was carers in these locations and in parts of the west of the county that provided the most hours of care per week with more than half of the carers in some EDs providing more than 43 hours unpaid care per week. Giving the large volume of time giving unpaid care, these people are likely to have very limited employment, and hence income, opportunities (apart from The Carers Allowance). Obviously these individuals would be at risk of poverty. 112 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare

5 To some extent there seems to be a mismatch in terms of the locations of the population aged over 65 years, highest proportions mainly in parts of the west of the county, and the locations of nursing homes in the county (close to the routes of the M7 and M4 motorways). Ballitore, Carlow and the north east of the county appear to be in need of a nursing home or other facility dedicated to the care of elderly in the county. Perhaps elderly people in these locations are availing of facilities in Wicklow, Carlow or Offaly but further investigation is warranted to establish if these needs are being met fully for people in the county. There is also a major issue with affordability as there seems to be few nursing home options for public/medical card patients in the county. The majority of deaths in Kildare were from cancer in 2006, with diseases of the circulatory system the second biggest killer in the county. However, rates of these diseases for the county were not at a level that would cause concern. Because different cancers have different aetiologies it would be interesting to look at the different types of cancers in the county broken down to ED level as some can be related to socioeconomic factors. In terms of access to services, given Kildare s proximity to Dublin most people would probably access cancer and other specialized services there. Both the infant mortality and neo natal mortality rates for Kildare were relatively low in The majority of those with physical or sensory disabilities in the county were in the years age group, with most of these having physical (as opposed to sensory) disabilities. The majority of those with intellectual disabilities in the county were aged between years. In addition, more than one fifth were aged under fourteen years which would have implications for educational and other services for children with intellectual disabilities in Kildare. Targeted intervention would require more detailed information from the HRB about where within the county these children are located. Again, whilst Kildare is quite a healthy county there is an obvious need for more GPs in the county. There is also a need to be able to geographically identify the location of medical card holders in the county to highlight areas of particular need. The issue of support for carers is something that also should be looked at more closely given their concentrations in different parts of the county and the large number of hours that people are providing care for. Similarly, there is a need for further investigation into services for the elderly as well as affordability of available services Educational Attainment Educational attainment hugely affects a persons life chances and thus their risk of poverty. Similar to other indicators in this report, although Kildare has a lower proportion of its population whose highest level of educational attainment was No formal, Primary or Lower Secondary, on a sub-county level there are significant spatial contrasts in terms of highest levels of educational attainment. Again, the majority of those in this category were located in EDs towards the west and south of the county. Although there is a broad distribution of primary schools in the county, there are a number of areas where more than 15% of the population are primary school age, which may warrant consideration in terms of the capacity of primary schools operating within the area. The areas of concern would be Rathangan, near Kilcullen, Moone, the hinterlands of Kilcock and Nurney. 113

6 8.2.5 Housing Voluntary/co-operative housing in Co. Kildare are mainly concentrated in the urban areas of Newbridge, Maynooth, Kildare and Rathangan. The majority of applicants for affordable housing are living in the north east of the county. The towns of Celbridge, Leixlip, Newbridge, Clane, Kilcock and Maynooth where also the most commonly preferred affordable housing locations. This highlights the very real crisis of affordability for people in the north east of Kildare. Proximity to Dublin and increasing commuting to the city centre have priced many people out of the housing market in this part of the county. Alternatively, perhaps there is just more awareness about the Affordable Housing Scheme in areas of the north east of the county than there is in more rural parts of the county. Linked with affordability of housing is the issue of homelessness. In order to help the 210 persons who presented as homeless to Kildare County Councils Homeless Outreach Workers in 2007, the supply of appropriate and affordable homes is critical. In particular, in Kildare there is a need for more housing options for single adults who make up the majority of homeless persons. In terms of Traveller accommodation, the Kildare County Council Traveller Accommodation Programme includes a range of measures designed to address the accommodation needs of Travellers. Although Kildare has relatively few households in the county without central heating, they are once again mainly concentrated towards western and southern parts of the county. Significant steps are being taken by Kildare local authorities to ensure that all of their housing stock would have central heating. There are grants available from the local authority for older persons in households not owned by the local authority that have no central heating also (Housing Aid for Older People Grants). Obviously the ideal would be for all households in the county to have some form of central heating so perhaps there will be a scheme in the future that would consider aiding those non-local authority households who have no central heating and who do not qualify for the Housing Aid for Older People Grants 8.3 What areas are we missing? Whilst the differences in terms of poverty levels between the north-east and south and west of Co. Kildare have emerged strongly in this research it is worth taking into account that given the arbitrary nature of EDs (which currently are the smallest areas that we have to work with), differences in poverty rates within urban areas, such as, Naas, Newbridge, Maynooth etc can be masked. This is because frequently urban areas in Ireland are encompassed by a single ED, however there can be huge variations in poverty levels within that ED. The National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG) at NUI Maynooth has recently developed areas smaller than EDs that are to be used for Census 2011 data which means that hopefully in the future we will be able to make some more informed decisions at local level in urban areas around poverty and other issues. In the meantime, local knowledge within theses urban areas will be vital if the Local Anti Poverty Strategy is to target the correct areas and individuals in the fight against poverty. 114 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare

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