Ireland has highest rate of 15-29 year olds on benefits in OECD

Ireland has the highest number of young people receiving unemployment and disability benefits among the 35 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to a new report.

The study, Society at a Glance 2016 , published on Wednesday showed more than 25 per cent of young Irish people, aged between 15 and 29-years-old, received the benefits in 2014 compared to the average of 10 per cent across all OECD countries.

Finland and Austria had the next highest rates, followed by Italy, France and Spain.

An OECD spokeswoman said some countries such as Greece featured lower down on the list as only people with a “long enough” employment history can receive unemployment benefit, which many young people may not have.

High youth unemployment was the main factor in the figure for Ireland. The number of young people employed in Ireland halved between 2007 and 2014 .

Despite the economic recovery, the youth employment rate has stagnated since 2010 and was below pre-crisis levels, the report said.

It said the high rate of young people on disability benefit, with 5 per cent receiving the payment, was a “particular worry”.

“Receipt of this type of benefit tends to be long term,” it said.

However, the report praised the Irish welfare system for keeping young people out of poverty.

“Close to 70 per cent of youth who would be below the poverty line before receiving benefits are lifted out of poverty by these benefits, the best performance across the OECD.”

Overall, two thirds of the 15 per cent of young people who are unemployed or not in training or education in OECD countries in 2015 were not looking for work.

The report showed Ireland was ninth on the Neet rate list, which is calculated for young people not in employment, education or training, in 2015 at 17 per cent, behind countries including Turkey, Italy, Greece and Spain.

Stefano Scarpetta, director of employment, labour and social affairs for the OECD, warned that unless more was done to improve opportunities in education and training for everyone, there was a growing risk of a divided society.

“It is getting harder and harder for young people with low skills to find a job, let alone a steady job in today’s workplace,” he said.

People with low education levels fared “particularly badly” in Ireland, the report said.

The OECD said fighting early school leaving was essential and vital to stop the risk of social exclusion.

About 65 per cent of the cohort of young people who dropped out of school accounted for a third of all Irish people not in employment, education or training.

The report added Irish women were vulnerable to unemployment because the high cost of childcare was a “major barrier to employment”.

It outlined on average childcare costs for a lone parent were between one third and half of net income, one of the highest in OECD countries.

The US, UK and New Zealand were also highlighted for having high childcare costs.

Poverty rates are highest among young people at 16 per cent and the lowest among the elderly at 7 per cent.

The report said Ireland was one of the few countries that did not have a higher rate for youth unemployment for young people born outside the country.

Overall, Ireland suffered the second largest drop in household disposable income between 2007-2013 with a fall of almost 4 per cent.

This biannual report analyses social trends and policy developments in the 35 OECD countries, as well as in Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

The report also highlighted the following trends for Ireland:

- The fertility rate in Ireland, with 1.95 children per woman, is well above the OECD average of 1.68.

- The average age of a first-time mother is 29.6-years-old, and is higher than the OECD average. It has risen two years since 1995.

- Marriage rates have remained unchanged since the 90s. The trend in most other OECD countries has been a decline in marriage rates.

- Ireland continues to have one of the lowest divorce rates in the OECD.

- Confidence in the Government is at 55 per cent, which is ahead of the OECD average of 44 per cent.

- One in four of the total population have expressed no interest at all in politics, much higher than other OECD countries.

- Ireland has one of the highest rates of all OECD countries for volunteering with more than one third of people aged 15 and older volunteering.

- A high proportion (83 per cent) of Irish people report good health, compared to the OECD average of 69 per cent.

- Irish people’s “life satisfaction” is slightly ahead of the OECD average.