THE IMPACT of high unemployment rates could blight the futures of families for decades to come, a campaigner warned yesterday.
Last week’s Live Register figures for April showed 384,448 or 11.4 per cent of the workforce were claiming jobless benefits, but the ESRI claimed this level could hit 17 per cent next year.
Social justice campaigner Sr Stanislaus Kennedy said the Government needed a clear strategy to stop households slipping into poverty which could take generations to recover from. “If one in six of us is unemployed, then very few families in this country will be unaffected,” she said.
“Those effects are not limited to trying to support oneself or one’s family on a very limited income – they include loss of pride, family stress, impacts on children’s school life and education and, because we are not planning properly to deal with this crisis, potentially the loss of life chances in the future for many of today’s children.”
Sr Stanislaus was speaking at the Féile Na Bealtaine political symposium at the Blasket Centre in Dunquin, Co Kerry. She added: “For some families, the consequences of poverty now will reverberate for generations. Failure to act now, to plan properly to address poverty, means we will be continuing to talk about the dreadful toll it takes on Ireland well into the 21st century.” She urged the Government to develop a coherent job creation plan.