Survey shows youth are pessimistic about future

FEWER than one in three young voters believe Ireland is a good place to live, according to an opinion poll which found little optimism about the future among the country’s under-35s.

The Irish Examiner-Red C poll found just 29% of 18-34 year olds were enthusiastic about living here while 34% said Ireland was not a good place to live. The remaining 37% were uncommitted.

The mood is explained by other responses to the poll which explored voter intentions and economic experiences in advance of next week’s general election.

Four out of five (78%) said the economic situation had affected their way of life and more than half (55%) have considered emigrating over the past year because of the lack of personal opportunities.

Young males in particular have little confidence about life in Ireland with 61% considering emigration compared to 50% of females and the mood is worst in Dublin where 65% had thoughts of emigrating.

Almost two out of every three (63%) have family members or friends who have already been forced to emigrate in the past 12 months. The trail of departures was worst in Connaught-Ulster where 73% had said goodbye to loved ones while least affected was Leinster (excluding Dublin) where the figure was 54%.

The poll shows younger voters are more likely to be unemployed with unemployment running at 22% compared to the 14% rate nationally.

More than half of the unemployed, together with the students surveyed, (52%) did not believe they had a reasonable chance of gaining employment in the future.

Even having a job was no great comfort to those surveyed as 66% said they had suffered pay cuts in the past two years. Females were more likely to have their pay cut (72%) than males (62%) and cuts were more likely among young people living in Munster (75%) while those safest from pay cuts lived in Dublin (55%).

The impact of joblessness and pay cuts is also illustrated by the finding that more than half (58%) of those surveyed said the economic situation was making it harder for them to start a family.

The majority of those surveyed were not yet homeowners but of the 59% who said they would like to own their own home, the notion that it’s a buyer’s market out there had little resonance.

For 39% of them, unemployment meant owning their own home was out of the question while 31% couldn’t take the leap because of job insecurity. A further 16% could not afford to save a deposit and 14% were unable to secure a mortgage.