Almost A Fifth Of Irish Homeless People Have Jobs

According to a new report published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), almost a fifth of homeless people currently residing in Ireland have a job.

The figures showed that almost 7,000 people were homeless across the country on Census night last year.

Of those findings – 58% were male, the average age was 31 and 17% of over-15-year-olds were working.

#census2016results Average Age of Homeless Person?#Population #HomelessPersonshttps://t.co/AZuIHJZOvg pic.twitter.com/iOTSdpBb3V

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) August 10, 2017

How many #HomelessPersons were Non-Irish? #census2016results #Population https://t.co/AZuIHJZOvg pic.twitter.com/HalhTKaByk

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) August 10, 2017

Head of Communications with the Peter McVerry Trust Francis Doherty mentioned that employed homeless people face their very own problems.

“People cannot afford rental accommodation so they … are trying to hold down jobs while they are in emergency accommodation. That job isn’t enough to keep them in private rental accommodation or meet their mortgage payments.

“So its particularly challenging for those individuals to get up every day and go into a work place and then leave the workplace and come back to an emergency accommodation situation … it is very demoralising.”

The full report by the CSO can be found here. 

READ NEXT: This Secret Paradise Island Needs To Be Your Next Holiday Destination