On May 3rd 2024, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the Live Register figures for April 2024. There were 169,497 people on the Live Register, a decrease of 9,083 people on the same month last year. Looking at the Register from a gender and age perspective: women account for 45% of the Live Register and young people, aged under 25 years, account for 11%.
Over the year, the number of people on the Live Register for less than one year decreased by 7% to 108,407 people – representing 64% of those on the Live Register. Women account for 46% and young people for 13.4% of this part of the register. 61,090 people were on the Live Register for more than a year, a decrease of 2% on April 2023. Looking at this part of the Register from a gender and age perspective: women account for 43% and young people 6%. Exploring the issue of duration further, 47% of the people on the Live Register for more than a year have been on it for at least three years. Women account for 40% of this group and young people 3%.
In Table A1 information is provided on the number of people ‘availing of Activation Programmes’. These figures always lag a month behind, and so in March 2024 there were 38,236 participants, an increase of 5% over the year. The number of people participating on education and training programmes was 11,430: an increase of 12% over the year. The number of people participating on the SOLAS Full-time Training for Unemployed People increased by 30% to 6,530, while the number of people on the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) increased by 5% to 1,835 participants. However, the number of people receiving the Back to Education Allowance dropped by 10% to 3,065 in March 2024.
The number of people participating on employment programmes increased by 2.4% to 26,806. Community Employment remains the largest programme with 19,117 participants in
March 2024 - 550 more participants than a year ago. The next biggest employment programme is TÚS - Community Work Placement Initiative, with 4,360 participants, a slight decrease over the year. The third largest employment programme is the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance scheme with 1,946 participants, a decrease of 16% over the year. Amongst the smaller schemes, the Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) increased from 599 participants in March 2023 to 1,038 participants in March 2024. The Part-time Job Incentive Scheme (PTJIS) decreased by 25% over the year to 79 participants, while the Short-term Enterprise Allowance increased by 26% to 266 participants.