Joe Whelan

UCC

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Dr Joe Whelan works as a lecturer and researcher in the School of Applied Social Studies at UCC

"Rather than being something good, charity might more accurately be said to be a necessary evil or at least something that allows an evil to persist"

How our generosity for charities exposes the failure of state

Is it not an indictment of Ireland in 2020 that we still need to raise money to help out good causes and charities?

Charity • 15 Dec 20

"This is what makes the current situation so very different and potentially hugely problematic"

'People usually leave Ireland when a crisis hits our economy'

Economic migration from Ireland is unlikely to be an option in a world where movement is greatly restricted

Emigration • 06 May 20

"110,000 people experiencing poverty are in employment". Photo: Getty Images

4 questions to ask your election candidate about poverty

How serious and informed is the man or woman looking for your vote about issues to reduce poverty?

Election 2020 • 29 Jan 20

"Work is not an absolute barrier to things like poverty and deprivation"

Does full employment mean good employment?

High employment numbers might suggest a healthy economy, but the stats only tell part of the story

Work & careers • 09 Sep 19

"68% of the basic income group felt that basic income would make it easier to accept job offers"

The positive effects of a basic income

Preliminary findings from Finland's experiment with basic income is largely encouraging for advocates of the scheme

Basic income • 01 Aug 19

Our understanding of who deserves what can be traced back to the writings of Plato and Aristotle.

Where do our ideas about what people deserve come from?

As with many contemporary debates, those surrounding deservingness are not new. In fact, they are ancient and have occupied the minds of some of humanity's ...

Society • 05 Jun 19

"The poor need not always be with us": photo by Derek Speirs of an anti-poverty march in Dublin as featured in the Combat Poverty Photographic Exhibition at Dublin's Civic Offices in 2007.

How Ireland has failed 760,000 people living in poverty

When it comes to poverty, how does Ireland compare internationally?

Poverty • 28 May 19

"The ratio of government social protection expenditure to GDP in 2017 varied considerably across EU member states from 9.5% in Ireland to nearly a quarter in Finland"

How Ireland's spending on welfare compares to the rest of Europe

Ireland's spending on welfare as a percentage of GDP and per head of population lags significantly behind other EU states.

Society • 21 Aug 19

"Governments and society are the mutual beneficiaries of a healthy, well-educated and secure populace"

The welfare state we're in

Is it time to reclaim the concept of welfare and the welfare state?

Society • 11 Mar 19

"The growing interest in a basic income lies in the threat posed to work and the workforce by a rising and sustained move towards automation and artificial intelligence"

All you need to know about basic income

There's a lot of talk at present around basic incomes so is it time to introduce the concept to Ireland?

Basic income • 08 Feb 19