Majority of 17-year-olds in Ireland feel they have been victims of discrimination, study finds

Study found being discriminated against led to low self-esteem and depression. Picture: iStock

A majority (76%) of 17-year-olds in Ireland claim to have felt discriminated against, with such experiences linked to a higher chance of depression and harmful alcohol use, a new study has found.

The Economic and Social Research Institute said most of those who had experienced discrimination felt it was because of their age, their appearance or their gender, with LGBTQ+ young people, those from a minority ethnicity and those with disabilities reporting higher levels of discrimination.

“It is concerning to see the high percentage of young people who feel they are discriminated against, and the continued level of discrimination experienced by marginalised groups,” report co-author Eva Slevin said.

Better resourcing for youth mental health and wellbeing services, and strong policy to prevent discrimination in education, work, online and in other settings is of vital importance.

The ESRI data is based on the Growing up in Ireland study that interviewed people born in 1998 when they were aged 17 and 25.

How they perceived discrimination was assessed using a scale of day-to-day experiences such as being “treated with less courtesy or respect”, “people acting as if you are not smart”, “people acting as if they are afraid of you”, or being “threatened or harassed”.

While 76% of 17 year olds reported experiencing some type of discrimination at least a few times a year, this fell slightly to two-thirds (66%) of 25 year olds.

Men in the younger cohort were more likely to report feeling discriminated against, but this had switched by the time they were 25.

“Among those recording any discrimination at age 17, the proportion who report they were threatened or harassed was 27% for men and 17.6% for women, and this pattern then reverses at age 25 to 28.6% of men and 35.5% of women,” the study said.

“This points to a concerning trend in how both men and women are perceived to be treated during these key development stages.” 

In terms of the impact this is having on people, the study found higher levels of feeling like you are discriminated against at the age of 25 is associated with a lower chance of you reporting to have very good or excellent health.

Furthermore, one’s self esteem and life satisfaction was negatively associated with the perceived level of discrimination at 25.

The study said: “We find that the [everyday discrimination scale] is significantly associated with higher depression scores, and higher predicted probabilities of clinically significant levels of depression.

We find that an increase in EDS score is associated with worse general health, lower life satisfaction, lower self-esteem, and higher depression score.

While it said the change in this score was not a “statistically significant predictor” for alcohol consumption, there was a “strong correlation” between perceived discrimination and alcohol use at 25.

It added: “The prevalence of everyday discrimination and its association with poorer health and wellbeing outcomes among young people outlined underlines the importance of tackling discrimination in society.

“There have been recent calls to add new grounds for discrimination to Irish legislation, including socio-economic background. The results presented in this report lend support to the call to include socioeconomic status as a discrimination ground.”