The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, that’s according to figures released today by Social Justice Ireland are calculated on the latest CSO data and relate to 2010.

Ireland’s poorest families experienced an income drop of almost 20% in one year while income of the richest increased by 4%.

There was a drop of more than 18% in the disposable income bracket (calculated after taxes are paid and social welfare received) for the poorest households during the year.

Social Justice Ireland has put the blame on the governments policies of continuing to increase the income of the richest 10% of households and widening the gap between the wealthy and the rest of society.

It says the top 10% of the population receive almost 14 times more disposable income than the poorest 10% — it was eight times more in 1980.

Social Justice Ireland director Sean Healy said the current strategy by the Government was making the situation worse.

“There is something profoundly wrong with government decisions that produce this lop-sided distribution of income favouring the richest when Ireland’s poor and middle income people struggle to make ends meet in these extremely difficult times.”