Emigration is still high among young people. Why?

Despite signs of economic recovery and an improvement in the rate of Irish nationals returning home over the last two years, why do so many young people continue to leave Ireland? How can Government attract them back in the future?

This week the Central Statistics Office published its annual Population and Migration estimates. The figures revealed for the second year in a row an increase in the overall number of Irish nationals returning to Ireland. Of course this is very welcome news, however on closer inspection we see that a significant proportion of young people aged between 15 - 24 years of age (31,700 in total, up from 30,400 in ) left the country in the last year. In fact the numbers of young people in this age cohort emigrating from Ireland up to April 2016 exceeded the number returning home in the same period.

During the recession, the CSO population and migration annual estimates year on year reflected soaring numbers of young people leaving Ireland and extremely low rates of return of Irish nationals. Given the gravity of the economic slump, the mass exodus of young people leaving the country during this period was not surprising.

At the peak of the recession, 31.6 per cent of young people under the age of 25 were unemployed. One of the public policy responses to youth unemployment was to reduce the rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance for jobseekers under the age of 26. This policy decision effectively meant that many young unemployed people struggled to make ends meet and to compete for jobs in an increasingly competitive and shrunken jobs market. Unfortunately, in light of limited income and opportunities at home, emigration became the most rational - and in some cases only - option for many young people.

We know young people have always left Ireland by choice to see the world, experience new cultures and horizons. In the year to April 2006 at the height of the Celtic Tiger, 15,900 young people under 25 emigrated. The latest data indicates double that number emigrated last year, demonstrating that while overall employment and career options are improving, we still have a long way to go.

For many young people the outlook remains challenging. While more jobs are available, too often these are low paid, precarious and with poor conditions of employment. Accessing quality employment opportunities with decent salaries and career progression options remains difficult. Economic progress has been made in terms of increasing the numbers in employment, but the youth unemployment rate in Ireland remains extremely high at 16 per cent, double the pre-crisis rate.

A significant proportion of young people are engaged in temporary forms of employment, and 38 per cent are on the minimum wage. According to a recent Eurostat report, one in five young people in Ireland are not engaged in any form of education, training or employment.

Accessing quality affordable housing is also a challenge. The majority of renters in Ireland are young people aged between 18 and 34. With soaring rental costs to contend with in the private sector, the cost of renting is extremely prohibitive for young people on low incomes. As result, many are staying longer in the parental home because of limited economic means to live independently. Saving money for a deposit or indeed securing a mortgage to purchase a home, is an aspiration rather a reality for many.

The current Programme for Government promises to support 70,000 people to return to Ireland by 2020. If this target is to be achieved, then more needs to be done to make Ireland a more attractive place for young people to live and to work, and to support, encourage and facilitate young Irish emigrants to return home.

Marie-Claire McAleer is head of research and policy at the National Youth Council of Ireland