SSISI: "Financial Incentives to Work in Ireland"

Venue: Central Statistics Office, Skehard Road, Cork

THE STATISTICAL AND SOCIAL INQUIRY SOCIETY OF IRELAND (SSISI).

"Financial Incentives to Work in Ireland", by Professor Tim Callan, Mr Michael Savage and Mr John R. Walsh (Economic and Social Research Institute) will be delivered on Wednesday 15th April 2015 at 4.00 pm.

Abstract:
Progressively structured tax and benefit systems have repeatedly been shown to provide vital financial support to low income individuals and families. However, in redistributing money from the rich to the poor, governments face the risk of reducing the incentive for individuals to increase their incomes through employment. By providing a high level of income support for out-of-work individuals, the financial incentive to move into employment may be considerably weakened. In this paper, our focus is how the Irish tax and benefit system affects the financial incentive to work in Ireland. Using SWITCH, the ESRI tax-benefit model, we examine the effect of the Irish tax and benefit system on incentives at both the extensive and intensive margins. We assess the frequency at which strong disincentives to work at all occur, and the characteristics of the individuals or households most likely to face these disincentives. We also examine whether the largest disincentives to work occur when moving between unemployment and part-time employment, or when moving between part-time and full-time employment.

Non-members are welcome to attend and participate in the discussion.

In addition, members will be asked to vote on a minor amendment to the Society’s Laws and Constitution concerning the date of the AGM. The proposed change is here