A report released today by the National Youth Council of Ireland indicates that 70 per cent of young unemployed Irish people believe that they will emigrate in the next twelve months.
Entitled The Forgotten Generation, the report reflects the views of 150 jobseekers between the ages of 18 and 25. Uniquely, the research focused on the interface between unemployed young people and the social welfare offices.
Speaking at the launch in Buswells Hotel in Dublin this morning Orlaith McBride, president of NYCI, called the results "very, very, very shocking."
While she did acknowledge that the economic situation was difficult at present, she said that the NYCI believed that more could be done to assist unemployed young people.
She said that the research suggested that the social welfare system was "not fit for purpose". She added that The Forgotten Generation report was solutions based to try to address some of these problems.
Hugh O'Connor - who was hired as a consultant by NYCI to conduct the research - said that the most striking figure for him was that only 32 per cent of respondents awarded even a mid-point satisfaction level to their meetings with social welfare officers.
He warned that there was a real danger that this generation could be lost even if the economy did recover. Many participants revealed worries about a three or four year gap on their CVs where they would be unemployed, he said.
He added that current young jobseekers were anxious about the possibility of being passed over by future employers for the next wave of graduates or early school leavers who will not have similar gaps on their CVs.
The solutions proposed by the report include a development of a 'one stop shop' for jobseekers where they could receive all their social welfare services under one roof.
Maire-Claire McAleer, NYCI's senior policy and research officer said that such a move would provide for greater integration between agencies like FÁS and the Department of Social Welfare.
It also calls for better 'institutional memory' where recipients would not have to repeat basic information multiple times.
In conducting the research for the report, nine focus groups of between eight and ten jobseekers were formed. Also, the research team carried out interviews on 90 young people on their way in and out of social welfare offices about their experience.
In all, researchers carried out approximately 50 hours of research before compiling the report.
It is the first of its kind in Ireland in that it focused primarily on the interaction between jobseeker and social welfare office from the viewpoint of the unemployed youngster.