A combination of stagnant wages and higher housing costs have left young workers in Ireland financially worse off than their parents, according to a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). Their situation is compounded by higher housing costs fuelled “by rapidly rising rents”, it said. This is in part because home ownership rates for young adults have “collapsed”, the report said. The report found that young adults have been “disproportionately” hit by the economic fallout from Covid-19, suffering significantly higher rates of unemployment. “To minimise the potential ‘scarring’ effect on young adults, policymakers should ramp up capacity on high-quality training programmes in the months ahead,” he said.

Source: The Irish Times May 11, 2021 05:58 UTC