Discussions on hygiene habits typically happen around public health concerns, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently with the Hantavirus outbreak. In our day-to-day lives, adequate hygiene supports good health, while hygiene poverty - the inability to afford adequate hygiene items - affects all facets of life. Medically, poor hygiene increases risk of health problems, such as gastrointestinal andrespiratory illness, infections, and dental issues (Aiello et al., 2008; Duangthip & Chu, 2020). Emotionally, lack of access to hygiene products contributes to feelings of anxiety, depression, and shame(Gunstone et al., 2022; Cardoso et al., 2021). Socially, hygiene-related shame and stigma can result in a person withdrawing from family and friends and experiencing loneliness and social isolation.
Despite these vast impacts, hygiene poverty is a largely unaddressed challenge in Ireland. Government initiatives focus primarily on period poverty, offering little support for those struggling to afford other hygiene products (Department of Health, 2024). Non-governmental organisations, such as Hygiene Hub, work hard to provide hygiene products to those in need, but cannot address the systemic factors driving hygiene poverty. With the continuing cost of living crisis, the affordability of basic essentials remains a major challenge. Yet, supports for those facing hygiene poverty are few and far between.
The limited recognition of hygiene poverty within Irish policy raises a broader question: what do we actually know about the issue? What is the scale of hygiene poverty in Ireland, who is most affected, and why?
These questions formed the basis of TASC’s latest report. Titled “Hygiene Inequalities in Ireland: An Analysis of Secondary Data”, the research looked at datasets on poverty, deprivation, and the cost of living to see what, if anything, can they tell us about hygiene poverty in Ireland. The findings highlighted a striking gap in evidence: hygiene poverty remains largely invisible within Irish data. For disabled people especially, relevant data is lacking entirely.
The Poverty Ireland Is Not Measuring
Although poverty and material deprivation are widely measured in Ireland, our research found that hygiene poverty is absent within these datasets.
The Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) is the official source of data on poverty and deprivation in Ireland. Published annually by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the survey collects information on incomes and living standards to establish the prevalence of poverty and deprivation across society.
A key focus of the SILC is enforced deprivation, defined as an inability to afford the minimum goods and services necessary for an acceptable standard of living and participation in society (CSO, 2026c). To capture this, the CSO has identified 11 essential items; someone who is unable to afford at least two of these is experiencing enforced deprivation.
Examples of these essentials include two pairs of properly fitting shoes in good condition and suitable for daily activities; a warm waterproof coat; a morning, afternoon or evening out every fortnight; and presents for family or friends at least once a year. Notably, hygiene products are not included, despite being an indisputable essential and carrying an overwhelming impact on living standards.
What Do We Know About Hygiene Spending?
If datasets on poverty and deprivation do not address hygiene poverty, then looking directly at household spending might prove more informative. It could reveal who spends the most and least on hygiene products, and whose hygiene needs may hence be going unmet.
Analysis of income and expenditure among households offers some insights into hygiene spending across Irish society. Firstly, household expenditure on hygiene products has increased in the last 10 years, even though their actual cost has fallen (CSO, 2020; CSO, 2024a; CSO, 2026a).
Secondly, some groups spend more of their expenditure on hygiene products than others, although this depends on the type of product. For example, rural households and people with lower disposable incomes spend relatively more on cleaning products. Renters spend relatively more on toiletries than homeowners. People with higher disposable incomes spend more of their expenditure on hair and cosmetics.
Unfortunately, the conclusions which can be drawn from the available data end here. At present, data on household expenditure tells us what differences exist, but not why. Furthermore, these findings relate only to hygiene spending, and not hygiene poverty – we know how much different households spend on hygiene products, but not whether that spending adequately meets their needs.
A different dataset, the Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL), intends to address this issue. The MESL (Thornton et al., 2025) attempts to establish how much different households need to spend on various items to achieve an acceptable living standard. The MESL forms the basis for the Living Wage, which has been used to advocate for increases to the minimum wage and social welfare rates.
If the MESL indicates how much households should be spending on hygiene products, then comparing this with households’ actual spending should reveal who is and is not meeting their minimum needs.
Unfortunately, the representativeness of MESL data is limited; it does not actually capture the needs of the entire population of Ireland. The MESL claims to cover only 85% of households, based upon household composition. This figure is likely to be lower if other variables are considered – such as the presence of a disabled household member, as will be discussed shortly.
Furthermore, the minimum goods included in the MESL basket are decided through public consultations. In 2025, this involved 128 participants (Thornton et al., 2025) - a quite small sample for determiningthe needs of Ireland’s entire population. Their demographic characteristics are also not reported, so it is not possible to assess which voices are present and which may be missing from the consultation process.
The Hidden Costs of Living with a Disability
People living with disabilities and chronic illnesses are known to experience higher livings costs than the general population, estimated at an additional €10,000-15,000 annually (Disability Federation of Ireland, 2026). This can stem in part from additional hygiene needs, including incontinence products, specialist skincare, first aid items, professional services which the person cannot safely carry out themselves (such as nail care), and more. Combined with the generally higher rates of poverty among disabled people (CSO, 2026b), this is likely to result in an increased risk of hygiene poverty among people living with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
However, TASC’s research found that while data on hygiene poverty among Ireland’s general population is limited, data focusing on disabled people is entirely non-existent.
CSO (2024b) data on household expenditure do not report on disability status – it is unknown whether and how many households with disabled members participate in these datasets, and what their expenditure levels are.
The MESL also does not appear to account for any additional costs faced by disabled people, outside of once-off reports, which have found the MESL for disabled people to be considerably higher, including in relation to hygiene (MacMahon & Moloney, 2017; MacMahon et al., 2022). However, these reports cover only two types of disability and are increasingly outdated. Meanwhile, these additional costs – faced by up to 22% of the Irish population (CSO, 2023a) – continue to be excluded from the main MESL.
Thus, Irish datasets concerning household needs and spending do not report on, or appear to consider, disabled people. As a result, the levels of hygiene spending or hygiene poverty among people with disabilities and chronic illnesses in Ireland are unknown. Additionally, any advocacy or policy decisions made using these datasets, including the Living Wage, also do not account for disabled people’s needs, which perpetuates the inequalities and marginalisation faced by this population.
What Needs to Be Done
At present, Irish datasets do not track the rate or distribution of hygiene poverty across the population. To address this challenge and ensure that hygiene supports are available to – and received by – those who need them most, several changes to data collection are recommended.
Hygiene poverty should be added to the SILC as an indicator of enforced deprivation. The Healthy Ireland survey should include questions on hygiene poverty in each annual iteration; this was done once, in 2022 (Healthy Ireland, 2022), but not since. Household budget datasets should record and report on the presence of disabled household members, while the MESL should account for the cost of disability in their annual reports. Hygiene spending and the prevalence of hygiene poverty, among both the general population and disabled people, could then be regularly tracked, and, crucially, accounted for inresulting policies and advocacy.
Looking Forward
Data are key to policy reform. Without data, it is difficult to prove that a problem exists and advocate for it to be addressed. Research also allows us to better understand who is affected by the problem, in what way, and how. As a result, resources and supports can be targeted to reach those who need them most.
Improving data on hygiene poverty is therefore not just a research issue; it is a necessary step towards reducing its prevalence. Better data can help ensure that supports are targeted, evidence-informed, and capable of meeting people’s real needs. Until hygiene poverty is adequately and accurately measured, it risks remaining overlooked in policy discussions – despite its considerable impact on health, dignity, and daily life.
References
- Aiello, A. E., Coulborn, R. M., Perez, V., & Larson, E. L. (2008). Effect of Hand Hygiene on Infectious Disease Risk in the Community Setting: A Meta-Analysis. American Journal of Public Health, 98(8), 1372–1381. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.124610
- Cardoso, L. F., Scolese, A. M., Hamidaddin, A., & Gupta, J. (2021). Period poverty and mental health implications among college-aged women in the United States. BMC Women's Health, 21(1), 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-020-01149-5
- Central Statistics Office. (2020). Average weekly household expenditure (HS208) [Data set]. https://data.cso.ie/table/HS208
- Central Statistics Office. (2023). Census of Population 2022 Profile 4 - Disability, Health and Carers. https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpp4/censusofpopulation2022profile4-disabilityhealthandcarers/disability/
- Central Statistics Office. (2024a). Average Weekly Household Expenditure (HBS01) [Data set]. https://data.cso.ie/table/HBS01
- Central Statistics Office. (2024b). Household Budget Survey 2022 – 2023. https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-hbs/householdbudgetsurvey2022-2023/
- Central Statistics Office. (2026a). EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (CPM23) [Data set]. https://data.cso.ie/table/CPM23
- Central Statistics Office. (2026b). Income, Poverty and Deprivation Rates (SIA62) [Data set]. https://data.cso.ie/table/SIA62
- Central Statistics Office. (2026c). Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2025. https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-silc/surveyonincomeandlivingconditionssilc2025/poverty/
- Department of Health. (2024). Women’s Health Action Plan 2024-2025 Phase 2: An Evolution in Women’s Health. https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-health/publications/womens-health-action-plan-2024-2025-phase-2-an-evolution-in-womens-health/
- Disability Federation of Ireland. (2026). Factsheet: Cost of Disability - The lived reality. https://www.disability-federation.ie/publications/factsheet-cost-of-disability-the-lived-reality/
- Duangthip, D., & Chu, C. H. (2020). Challenges in Oral Hygiene and Oral Health Policy. Frontiers in Oral Health, 1, 575428. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2020.575428
- Gunstone, B., Gosschalk, K., Stoker, M., Owen, M., Zabicka, E., & Harmer, L. (2022). The Hygiene Bank: Hygiene Poverty 2022. https://thehygienebank.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Hygiene_Poverty_2022_Full_Report.pdf
- Thornton, R., O’Carroll, N., McGovern, A., & Boylan, H. (2025b). Minimum Essential Standard of Living: MESL 2025. Vincentian MESL Research Centre. https://budgeting.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MESL-2025.pdf
Maria (Marysia) Pachowicz
Maria (Marysia) Pachowicz is TASC's Junior Researcher for Health. They have a B.A. in Psychology & Mathematics and an M.Sc. in Applied Psychology from Trinity College Dublin and are particularly interested in mental health and lived experiences of navigating mental healthcare. Maria is a member of the “Sharing the Vision: A Mental Health Policy for Everyone” Reference Group of Service Users and Family Members, where they advise the Department of Health on the implementation of Ireland's national mental health policy, ensuring that the voice of the service user is at the centre of all decisions. They also sat on the Health Research Board Expert Group tasked with producing Ireland’s first National Mental Health Research Strategy and now sit on the Strategy's Implementation and Oversight Group. Maria is a member of the Digital Mental Health Working Group of the International Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders.
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