Four in 10 young people in Ireland worried life will not improve for them

A survey carried out by Youth Work Ireland also found young people have far more confidence in themselves than the Government to make the world a better place.

The opinion poll found more than 38pc of young people believe they could make the world a better place while 29pc said the Government can.

More than two out of every five (43pc) of the young people surveyed said they do not believe life in Ireland is better now than it was five years ago. Only one in five (21pc) said it was better, while 35pc said they were unsure.

The survey of more than 700 young people identified the top three issues concerning them as health (36pc), education (24pc) and access to services such as housing and healthcare (14pc).

The respondents said they were least hopeful about society making any progress on climate action (24pc) and on access to services (22pc) in the next five years.

However, 68pc of those surveyed said they believe that young people have the power to change society for the better.

They said the most important actions they can take to improve society are vote in elections (36pc), gain more education and skills (21pc), protest (17pc) and get involved in Politics (11pc).

The online survey of 174 young people aged between 16 and 24 was carried out between March 21 and April 4.

Youth Work Ireland CEO Dr Patrick Burke said the research has shown that, although the nature of our society has changed, the demand for youth services prevails.

“Youth Work Ireland advocates for its Member Youth Services and young people on a local, national and European level, with this in mind, in 2021 Youth Work Ireland, along with their stakeholders, embarked upon a process to develop a new Strategic Statement that clearly articulates their vision, mission, and the direction of their work in the coming five years,” he said.

“Designed to innovate the scope of youth work in Ireland, this Strategic Statement is intended to be moulded and shaped to fit the diverse needs of its Member Youth Services in an ever-changing world,” he added.