A report by economist consultants at Indecon found that close to 300,000 people had been “wiped out” financially since 2007. They also revealed that the average Irish person is 30% worse off than they were before the start of the financial crisis.

Their reasoning for the steep decline is the changeover from full-time to part-time jobs, and how the private sector was hit a lot harder than the public sector was. Personal incomes, as a result, dropped by around 50%, mainly because private sector employees were well-paid before, but were forced out of their jobs due to the recession.

The report claims that because private-sector managers couldn’t afford to keep as many employees, they were either forced to lay them off or reduce their hours to a part-time position. According to the Independent, employers cutting back on staff and hours has "pushed the number in part-time jobs up by about a fifth over the last four years."

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In 2007, 361,400 people held part-time positions, while the number has jumped to 426,700 today.

Alan Gray, managing partner of Indecon, says that "Individuals and families who previously had full-time, reasonably paid jobs and who are now dependent exclusively on social welfare face the biggest challenge from the downturn," said Alan Gray, managing partner of Indecon. "These people have been obliterated..."

In contrast, the public sector hasn’t been hit that hard since the recession began. In fact, the report shows that they seemed to benefit. While the the private sector’s weekly earnings (before the tax fall) went from €639.05 in 2007 to €602.85 today, the pubic sector’s range increased from €847.17 to €871.09.

Regarding taxes, a single person earning €20,000 is now paying over €900 more a year, from €1,020 in 2007 to €1,960 today. A single person earning €25,000 is paying close to 30% more in taxes, and one who makes €100,000 is paying 20% more.