Low pay 'endemic' in Ireland's labour market - report

One in three workers earn less than a living wage and struggle to make ends meet, according to new research led by University College Dublin.

The Working Life on Low Pay Report found that over 30% of workers in a full-time job earn less than the real living wage would pay.

According to the study, between 13% and 32% of employees have low weekly earnings, depending on the threshold used.

Almost one in four earn less than two-thirds of the median weekly wage, the conventional measure of low pay.

Researchers found that low pay is about hours, not just the hourly rate.

"While seven in ten low-paid workers earn more than the national minimum wage per hour, their pay is low because they work too few hours in the week," the report found.

"Just over half of the low paid work part-time, and more than three-quarters of those on 17 to 24 hours a week are low paid."

The study also found that women are hit hardest.

"Almost one in three women are low paid as against 17% of men," according to the study.

It found that 59% of low-paid workers are under 25 and around half of are over 65.

Three sectors hold more than half of the low paid and these are retail, hospitality, and health and social care.

The border region has the highest rate of low pay, according to the report, which also found that low-paid work is of poor quality.

"There are few opportunities for training and development, one in four go home physically exhausted most or all of the time, one-third have been shouted at or verbally abused at work in the past year, and nearly one in three struggle to make ends meet," the study found.

Dr Lisa Wilson, Senior Economist at the NERI and Adjunct Associate Professor at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School said the Government's commitment to move the minimum wage towards a living wage is the right one.

"But most of Ireland's low-paid workers are not on the minimum wage," Dr Wilson said.

"They are above it, on hours that do not add up to a living wage, in jobs they are prepared to work hard in but that offer little training or development in return."

"Improving their position means looking at the broader conditions of these jobs, and not only the price of an hour at the minimum," she added.

The Working Life on Low Pay report is based on findings from the Working in Ireland Survey 2025 which was administered to 3,040 workers.