Almost seven in ten young adults in Ireland are now considering moving abroad in search of a better quality of life, according to new research published by the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI).
The survey found that 68% of those aged 18 to 24 say they are considering emigrating, while 71% believe they would have a better quality of life if they left Ireland. The findings point to a striking, and growing, sense among the country’s young people that their future may lie elsewhere.
NYCI, the representative body for voluntary youth organisations across the country, has commissioned similar polling on young people’s attitudes for several years running, allowing it to track how sentiment is shifting over time. According to the latest results, housing and general affordability remain the single biggest concerns driving young people to think about leaving, but worries about employment prospects have also been climbing steadily year on year.
The picture painted by this year’s survey continues a trend seen in NYCI’s research over recent years. In similar polling carried out roughly a year ago, three in five people under 25 said they were considering emigration, with almost one in three describing themselves as “strongly” considering the move. That earlier survey also found that 82% of 18-24 year-olds felt negatively affected by rising living costs, while 84% agreed the housing crisis was disproportionately affecting their age group, a figure that itself had risen from the year before. Among full-time students specifically, that survey found rent and accommodation costs were cited as a major financial burden by 94% of respondents.
Taken together, the pattern in NYCI’s research suggests that rather than easing, the pressures facing young adults in Ireland, particularly around housing, have continued to build, with more and more young people reaching the conclusion that a life abroad might offer better prospects than staying at home.
This latest survey lands just weeks after a separate piece of research commissioned by NYCI, carried out by the think tank Tasc, found that youth employment in Ireland has never fully recovered from the 2008 financial crash. That report noted that while headline youth unemployment has fallen sharply from a crisis-era peak of 32%, roughly 120,000 fewer young people are in work today than two decades ago, with growth in youth employment stalling at around 320,000 even as employment among other age groups has continued to rise. The report concluded that falling unemployment figures mask a deeper problem of low pay, insecure work, and barriers that make it harder for young people to live independently.
NYCI has repeatedly used this kind of research to lobby the Government ahead of the annual Budget, calling in previous years for measures such as reduced college registration fees, equal minimum wage rates for workers under 20, aligning Jobseeker’s Allowance rates for under-25s with those of older recipients, wider access to reduced-fare travel cards for young people, and greater investment in local youth services. With Budget negotiations now approaching, this year’s findings are likely to feed into similar calls for Government action.
The consistent message emerging from NYCI’s research over several years is that, for a large and growing share of Ireland’s young people, the cost of housing, the state of the jobs market and broader affordability concerns are combining to erode confidence that they can build a stable, independent life in Ireland. Without a meaningful shift in those conditions, NYCI’s data suggests more young adults will continue to see emigration not as a last resort, but as a realistic and increasingly attractive option.
