Relocating for employment biggest concern among Irish youth

Having to move to find a job is a top concern for 32% of Ireland’s young people, compared to 16% at EU level, according to a Eurobarometer on European Youth, released today.

This is followed by concerns around securing a stable job or a long term contract, which is a concern for 29% of Irish youth and 31% of EU youth.

Irish young people are slightly more optimistic than their EU peers about their prospects of finding employment: 31% are “Very Confident” as opposed to 26% at EU level, and 56% are “Fairly Confident” compared to 48% of EU young people.

Irish young people are also far more engaged in voluntary activities than their EU counterparts, with 42% of Irish youth involved in volunteering in the last 12 months, and 25% of EU youth involved in voluntary activity in the same period.

24% of the Irish youth involved in volunteering received a certificate or another form of formal recognition for their participation, while 27% of EU youths received formal recognition for their volunteering.

Charity, humanitarian and development aid were the most popular fields of volunteering for both Irish (49%) and EU (44%) youths, followed by education, training or sport, at around 40% for both Ireland and the EU.

While only 7% of Irish young people were involved in political volunteering, 40% had voted in local elections (EU average 47%), and 30% had voted at national (EU average 43%) and EU levels (EU average 31%).