You’re about to learn a lot about Ireland.
A huge study of 64 countries by a group called Youthonomics has shed much light on the wellbeing of people aged 15-29 in Ireland compared to young people in other parts of the world.
Overall, Ireland scored relatively well and was ranked as the 14th best country to be a young person, thanks in large part due to our high income per capita, access to healthcare and access to education.
Norway, Switzerland and Denmark made up the top three and the UK finished two spots behind us in 16th.
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Ireland also provides its young people with a very high quality of university education at a comparatively low cost.
However, Ireland scored much worse on the ‘Youth Optimism Index.’ Despite finishing in the top ten for ‘University and Skills’ and ‘Health’, Ireland is only the 42nd most optimistic country in the study (or if you want to be optimistic about it, we’re 22nd best at being pessimistic).
This is probably due to Ireland’s unspectacular performance in other areas of the study. Ireland finished 39th in Public Finance – behind countries with much lower incomes per capita, such as Peru, Nepal, Uganda and Indonesia.
Where Ireland really pails in comparison to the other countries in the study is in ‘Access to Employment’ for young people. Out of 64 countries, Ireland is 51st for access to employment – finishing behind far more historically disadvantaged countries like Mali, Rwanda, Kenya, Colombia, Chile and Uganda.
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Perhaps the most damning statistic is that Ireland is only eighth from bottom when it comes to unemployment among people 15-29. This is clearly not a reflection of the efforts of young people in Ireland, since the report ranks us as 14th best when it comes to entrepreneurship.
Ireland is also one of the worst countries in the study for ‘Youth Unemployment’ compared to ‘Relative Unemployment’ though Spain and Greece take the cake there, with youth unemployment almost as high as 60%.
You can download the full Youthonomics Global Index report here.
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