Creating jobs is greatest challenge

OECD report

Two details in the Irish section of yesterday’s OECD Society at a Glance 2014 report stand out. One defines how the economic collapse has had such a devastating impact on so many families, and the other shows how escalating and persistent unemployment puts tremendous pressure on a society and its finances.

Describing the challenge faced by far too many people, the OECD pointed out that more than one in six adults live in a house where no one has a job, hardly a happy environment or one conducive to fostering ambition, much less hope. This chilling, soul-crushing ratio has nearly doubled from one in 10 before the crisis. Putting flesh on that particular skeleton, the OECD points out that long-term unemployment is at a historic high and the proportion of Irish NEETs — young people neither in employment nor in education or training — is the sixth-highest in the OECD. This challenging and unacceptable figure stands at 16.7%, compared with an OECD average of 12.6%.