14 October 2026
Low hours driving low pay across Northern Ireland
New research welcomed by Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald on 1 October finds that low pay in Northern Ireland is as much about hours as hourly rates. Working Life on Low Pay in Northern Ireland, drawn from the Working in Ireland Survey 2025 of 1,260 workers here, found that 30.3% of employees earn less in a week than a full-time job at the Real Living Wage would pay, and 22.6% earn below two-thirds of median weekly pay.
Two-thirds of low-paid workers work too few hours, and more than three-quarters of them work part-time. But full-time work is no guarantee either: 14.2% of full-time employees fall below the Real Living Wage over a week. Three-fifths of low-paid workers have no say over when they start and finish, and almost half worry about unexpected changes to their hours.
The risk is unevenly spread. Almost a third of women (31.8%) are low paid compared with 14.0% of men, as are more than half of employees under 25 (54.1%). Low pay is concentrated in retail, health and social care, education and hospitality, and is highest in Causeway Coast and Glens, Fermanagh and Omagh, and Derry City and Strabane. Fewer than one in ten graduates are low paid. The Minister linked the findings to her Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill, which includes measures on predictable working hours, and encouraged employers to become accredited Living Wage employers.
For careers practitioners, the research sharpens the questions worth asking about any job offer: not only the hourly rate, but how many hours are guaranteed and how predictable they are. The report also finds that low-paid work generally offers little training, which narrows the path to progression. With qualification level the strongest protection, routes into higher-level learning, including Higher Level Apprenticeships and part-time study for adults already in work, belong at the centre of guidance in the sectors and areas most affected.
Read the full Working Life on Low Pay in Northern Ireland report.
Two-thirds of low-paid workers work too few hours, and more than three-quarters of them work part-time. But full-time work is no guarantee either: 14.2% of full-time employees fall below the Real Living Wage over a week. Three-fifths of low-paid workers have no say over when they start and finish, and almost half worry about unexpected changes to their hours.
The risk is unevenly spread. Almost a third of women (31.8%) are low paid compared with 14.0% of men, as are more than half of employees under 25 (54.1%). Low pay is concentrated in retail, health and social care, education and hospitality, and is highest in Causeway Coast and Glens, Fermanagh and Omagh, and Derry City and Strabane. Fewer than one in ten graduates are low paid. The Minister linked the findings to her Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill, which includes measures on predictable working hours, and encouraged employers to become accredited Living Wage employers.
For careers practitioners, the research sharpens the questions worth asking about any job offer: not only the hourly rate, but how many hours are guaranteed and how predictable they are. The report also finds that low-paid work generally offers little training, which narrows the path to progression. With qualification level the strongest protection, routes into higher-level learning, including Higher Level Apprenticeships and part-time study for adults already in work, belong at the centre of guidance in the sectors and areas most affected.
Read the full Working Life on Low Pay in Northern Ireland report.
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