Average weekly earnings declined by 15 per cent in the year to the end of June due to the Covid crisis, although State supports helped cushioned losses for many households.
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that when Covid-19 income supports are included, median weekly income was down 6.15 per cent over the year under review.
The median weekly income of employees who received income supports was 12 per cent lower in the 12 months to the end of September, compared with a rise of 5 per cent for non-recipient employees.
Men on Covid income supports were more negatively affected by the crisis than women, with a drop of 13.4 per cent in earnings versus a 6.3 per cent fall for females.
Young people were particularly affected by the pandemic, with those aged under 25 experiencing a 22 per cent decline in weekly earnings on average in the year to September. With income supports included, however, earnings were actually 3.2 per cent higher.
Low-income earners who received Covid supports experienced a 35.4 per cent rise in weekly incomes in the year to September. High-income earners saw earnings fall 22.7 per cent.
The share of employees with weekly earnings of less than €300 rose to 27.5 per cent of all employees in the year to September, an increase of 11.3 percentage points.
When Covid-19 income supports are taken into account the share of employees in this earnings band fell to 12.3 per cent of all employees, a decrease of 3.9 percentage points over the period.
