THE CONTRIBUTION young people make to society needs to be recognised in the Government’s strategy for dealing with the economy, the director of the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) has said.
Mary Cunningham was speaking at the launch of an NYCI report on issues facing many young people in Ireland.
It comprises a survey of more than 1,000 people aged 18-25, carried out from July to September last year.
“With the proper support, young people aged 18 to 25 can be key drivers of recovery and renewal in our economy and society,” Ms Cunningham said, “but the Government must provide the political leadership to ensure that happens”.
While promising that the NYCI would continue to address issues affecting young people, she said that “we need an overall Government plan of action and strategy for renewal and recovery which recognises the needs but also the contribution of young people”.
The Truth About Youth report aims to offer an insight into how the issues of education, health, housing, personal finance and voting participation affect young people in Ireland.
The research consisted of face-to-face interviews, with respondents selected to highlight a broad spectrum of social backgrounds. It was conducted on behalf of the NYCI by SPSS Ireland in partnership with Future Fieldwork Ireland.
While 42.7 per cent of those surveyed planned to return to education in the next five years, 52.2 per cent cited the overall cost of further study as the largest deterrent to doing so, with job commitments (47.4 per cent) and fees for part-time courses (42.5 per cent) among other significant factors.
On health, 20 per cent of respondents did not visit their GP when sick due to the cost; 42 per cent said they earned less than €899 per month. Based on these figures, the NYCI called for the medical card income threshold to be doubled. “The vast majority of young people are surviving on a very low income, which at the current costs for expenses such as rent, transport and so on, is not a lot of money,” said NYCI assistant director James Doorley.