Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 An international perspective
- 3 Poverty and food: the Irish context
- 4 Interpreting the data
- 5 Pathways into food poverty
- 6 Pathways through food poverty
- 7 Investigating the policy drivers
- 8 Responses to food poverty
- 9 Conclusions
- Appendix 1 Secondary analysis of survey data
- Appendix 2 Interview methodology
- References
- Index
Appendix 1 - Secondary analysis of survey data
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 October 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 An international perspective
- 3 Poverty and food: the Irish context
- 4 Interpreting the data
- 5 Pathways into food poverty
- 6 Pathways through food poverty
- 7 Investigating the policy drivers
- 8 Responses to food poverty
- 9 Conclusions
- Appendix 1 Secondary analysis of survey data
- Appendix 2 Interview methodology
- References
- Index
Summary
This study used secondary data to examine the prevalence of food poverty across Europe. An outline of the data sources used on food poverty (Survey of Income and Living Conditions and OECD) and food insecurity (UN FAO) is briefly summarised in the following sections.
European Union – Survey of Income and Living Conditions
The main source of data on food poverty in Europe is the EU-SILC, which enables annual monitoring of poverty and deprivation. EU-SILC is a voluntary, household survey carried out annually across the EU since 2003. It provides a large representative sample of different types of households, with data on 5,219 households (incorporating 13,186 individuals) available in the 2016 survey. It captures demographic, socio-economic and health data, which enables the relationship between food poverty and a range of characteristics to be explored. The two-stage sample design ensures proportionate representation of different population density strata groups, from cities to rural areas (Central Statistics Office [CSO], 2015). It is the official source of data in Ireland on both household and individual income, coupled with living conditions, and provides key national poverty indicators. The EU SILC 2006– 18 datasets for Ireland were obtained from the Irish Social Science Data Archive.
There are limitations in using EU-SILC data to assess food poverty. Because it is a household survey, it may not capture deprivation at an individual level within households. The sample does not include some vulnerable groups, such as the homeless, Travellers or asylum seekers in institutional settings, who may be at a relatively high risk of food poverty. In addition, EU-SILC is based on a common framework, rather than a common survey, which allows flexibility at national level and results in different food poverty questions across countries. Ireland’s SILC questionnaire includes four topics that relate to food poverty:
• Unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day.
• Unable to afford a roast joint (or its equivalent) once a week • Unable to afford to have a substantial meal one day in the last fortnight.
• Unable to afford to have family or friends for a drink or meal once a month.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Uncovering Food Poverty in IrelandA Hidden Deprivation, pp. 160 - 163Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2022