According to a recent study, women have been worst affected by austerity measures over the past six years.
The Economic and Social Research Institute and the Equality Authority report shows that women were less likely to gain employment during the height of the recession.
The research found that the impact of austerity measures in recent years on single women and men who are currently of working age, including public-sector pay cuts and tax and welfare changes, were fairly similar.
The study found that average losses in disposable income of was close to 10%. It is understood that there were losses of about 5% for single people of retirement age. Couples of working age lost, on average, 12% of disposable income, while retired couples lost just over 4%.
However the report also found that women in relationships saw sharper losses in individual disposable income compared with men at all income levels, about 14% for women and 9% for men.
It is believed that a key factor is the reduction in child benefit payments, which are typically received by mothers. Public sector pay changes and other social welfare reductions also had a stronger effect on women.