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(File photo) People queue outside the Social welfare offices in Thomas Street Dublin in 2009 /Photocall Ireland

Ireland has the highest rate of young people receiving benefits across 35 countries

A recent report compared and measured the experience of youth across OECD member states.

IRELAND HAS THE highest rate of young people receiving unemployment and disability benefits across the 35 countries of the OECD.

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is an intergovernmental organisation set up to stimulate world trade and economic growth across its members states.

A recent report compared and measured the experience of youth across OECD member states.

The report, entitled Society at a Glance 2016 and published today, found that over a quarter of people in Ireland aged between 16 and 29 years old were in receipt of either disability or unemployment benefit in 2014.

Next to Ireland were Finland and Austria (both close to 20%). This is compared to an average of 10% across the OECD.

The report found that the figure was driven by high youth unemployment, but also a “particularly high rate of disability benefit receipt” with 5% of youth receiving this payment.

The report said this was “a particular worry” as receipt of disability benefit tends to be long term.

The report found, however, that the benefit system did “an excellent job of lifting youth out of poverty”.

“Close to 70% of youth who would be below the poverty line before receiving benefits are lifted out of poverty by these benefits,” the report found.

This is the best performance in this regard in the OECD.

unemployed Percentages of young people (16-29) in receipt of unemployment (grey) and disability (blue) benefits across the OECD. OECD OECD

NEET

The report points to the strong impact the recent economic crisis and recession had on increasing levels of youth unemployment.

The proportion of young people not in employment, education or training (known the NEET) rose hugely during the recession.

The NEET doubled from 11% in 2007 to 22% in 2010. It currently remains double that of over 25 year olds.

The report found that people with low education levels “fare particularly bad in Ireland”.

65% of youth who dropped out of secondary school are not in employment, education or training, compared to just 13% of those with a third level degree – this is one of the largest gaps in the OECD.

Other notable stats from the report:

  • Disinterest in politics in Ireland is high, with around one quarter of the total population, and over one third of 15-29 year olds, expressing no interest at all in politics, around 40% higher than the OECD average.
  • Poverty rates are highest among youths (at 16%) and lowest among the elderly (at 7%).
  • 83% of adults report good health (compared to a 69% OECD average).
  • Ireland is one of the few countries in which youth born outside the country do not have higher NEET rates than Irish born youth.
  • Ireland has one of the most comparable NEET rates between women and men. Across the OECD NEET rates for women are 38% higher than for men – in Ireland this gap was only 12% in 2015.

You can view the report here

Read: Despite incomes increasing, Americans still believe the country is heading in the wrong direction

Read: Live Register: The number of people signing on has fallen below 300,000

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145 Comments
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    Mute Martin Redington
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    Nov 18th 2021, 12:55 PM

    Why are half of the articles comments closed? Why is the presidential oath one closed?? How do the TDs and senetors not think, “first world problems”

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    Mute Pete Gilmartin
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:01 PM

    @Martin Redington: Comments are closed when a court case is still going on. You have been here for 7 years, you should know this by now.

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    Mute John Duggan
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:03 PM

    @Pete Gilmartin: articles on travellers are also always closed.. what do they say, “if you want to know who controls you look at who you’re not allowed to criticise”?

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:05 PM

    @Martin Redington: Labour, SF and SDs with nothing better to be doing than grandstanding their atheism and objection to the words God and Almighty. As if there aren’t enough real problems to contend with for these so called socialists.

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:08 PM

    @Martin Redington: Maybe they’re afraid that people who might want to vent about a different issue entirely will post something in the comments section of an article that has absolutely nothing to do with that particular article. I’ve seen it happen before and quite recently too. It’s amazing how often it happens.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:13 PM

    @GrumpyAulFella: They’re not all atheists and not all people are Christian or monotheist either. Exclusion from office on the basis of religious discrimination is a problem but not as urgent as other but luckily we have the ability to fix more than one problem at a time….

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    Mute Roy Dowling
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:21 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: who’s excluding anyone from the office?

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    Mute Jonathan O'Riordan
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:49 PM

    @Pete Gilmartin: and what about comments closed on the Chinese tennis player

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Nov 18th 2021, 2:09 PM

    @Roy Dowling: To get into the office you must swear an oath to ‘Almighty God’. Now one can do that against their beliefs but it is exclusionary by nature and not in line with freedom of religion. If people of faith think that faith is important then they shouldn’t be forcing people to take a frivolous oath to their god.

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    Nov 18th 2021, 2:14 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: who is excluded from office? Our president is a self-confessed atheist. How much money, time and effort have these offended politicians wasted on this nonsense when as a nation we’re battling a global health emergency and homelessness crisis?

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Nov 18th 2021, 2:18 PM

    @GrumpyAulFella: It wouldn’t be wasted if it was already done. Also could you show me how Michael D is an atheist, can’t find an article on it

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    Nov 18th 2021, 2:19 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: it didn’t seem to bother our President who is a self confessed a!heist. Should we scrap the constitution also and rewrite the declaration of the Irish Republic? Politicians living off the taxpayer with nothing better to be doing as we battle through a global health emergency and homelessness crisis. The stench of faux outrage is palpable.

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    Mute Roy Dowling
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    Nov 18th 2021, 2:37 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: So there faith in there own religious beliefs that is prevent them taking office. I’m no fan of religion and I’d have no problem saying a frivolous oath to any god. Let’s be honest it wouldn’t be the first time a politician lied would it?

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    Mute Tom Molloy
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    Nov 18th 2021, 2:40 PM

    @Martin Redington: God is NOT religion. Its noteworthy that people who have a problem with God want the State to be god or a human dynasty like the Windsors to be gods.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Nov 18th 2021, 3:44 PM

    @Tom Molloy: How is it noteworthy when it’s evidently untrue? God is not a religion obviously but belief in any god should not be a prerequisite to hold office.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Nov 18th 2021, 4:01 PM

    @Roy Dowling: I wouldn’t have a problem either but thats only because I don’t beleive in theism but if someone strongly believes some other religion and opposes to swearing an oath to God Almighty based on their beliefs it is exclusionary. The place for God, god or gods is in religious building and people’s homes if they so wish not in government. Our government is not theocratic but governments that are tend to be some of the worst places to live.

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    Mute David Bishop
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    Nov 18th 2021, 5:41 PM

    @John Duggan: you think travellers control the media? That’s actually hilarious, well done

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    Mute John Duggan
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    Nov 18th 2021, 12:55 PM

    With respect to Evelyn, all I want to know is will I get a snow day this year or not?

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    Mute Tommy Roche
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:25 PM

    Met Eireann don’t issue detailed forecasts for beyond 5 days, but for what it’s worth virtually all the extended models are showing pretty much the same thing regarding next week. Turning colder over the weekend,, slightly milder days/cold, frosty nights midweek but then possibly the start of a more severe spell of cold the following weekend. That’s subject to change which is why Met Eireann won’t mention it until closer to the time, but it’s a little unusual for all models to agree on something that’s 10 or 11 days away.

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    Mute Keith
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    Nov 18th 2021, 3:24 PM

    @Tommy Roche: well said lol you must follow irish weather online he was saying that scenario
    Interesting to see modules show this Greenland high so early could be an interesting winter

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    Mute LaoisWeather
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:44 PM

    Blatant fake news: “Temperatures in the country today are expected to be mild with highs of between 12-16 degrees Celsius, the long-term averages for November in different parts of Ireland range between 7-9 degrees Celsius.”

    That 7-9c range includes night-time minimums, so you are not comparing like-with-like.

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    Mute Alan Kelly
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:18 PM

    Dose Evelyn believe in global warming or does she think its a load of b o l l i x

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:47 PM

    @Alan Kelly: Without the Greenhouse Effect the Earth would be covered with ice sheets all the way to the equator. Experimental proof of the Greenhouse Effect was discovered in 1896:

    Arrhenius, S., 1896. XXXI. On the influence of carbonic acid in the air upon the temperature of the ground. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 41(251), pp.237-276.

    The Greenhouse Effect is a fact.

    The question is, do human’s increase the Greenhouse effect (cause global warming) by adding billions of tons of Greenhouse gasses, that trap heat, to the atmosphere e.g. CO2, Methane, Nitrogen Oxides (CO2 is what Arrhenius called carbonic acid in his 1896 paper).

    Why wouldn’t they?

    A 19th century scientist figured out CO2 traps the Sun’s heat, adding more would make the Earth warmer, it’s not complicated. They figured this out >100 years ago.

    See “A 1912 news article ominously forecasted the catastrophic effects of fossil fuels on climate change”.

    So, yes she does believe in anthropogenic global warming / climate change, as do 97% of science papers published:

    Cook, J., et. al, 2016. Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming. Environmental Research Letters, 11(4), p.048002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/048002

    NASA has a nice website that explains how we know we are warming the planet.

    https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

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    Mute LaoisWeather
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    Nov 18th 2021, 3:57 PM

    @David Jordan: Land use probably has a greater effect on warming over C02 and there is also a natural warming/natural cooling cycle in the climate. So alot of moving parts, which I don’t have much confidence in statements like we are creating a climate “crisis”.
    Human’s no doubt are contributing to change, but it’s arguable what proportion of overall change that is human induced. Also, it is unknown what these changes will translate into.

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    Mute Alan Biddulph
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    Nov 18th 2021, 5:24 PM

    @LaoisWeather: 9 billion of us now, driving, flying, farming, burning, consuming, mining, destroying rainforests that stood for thousands of years… I think it’s safe to say we are responsible for what’s happening, although not solely responsible.

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Nov 18th 2021, 6:03 PM

    @LaoisWeather: It’s easy express scepticism, ah This or That could be true. But you have not said why these alternatives might be more likely, you just raised them.

    Are they more likely? Let’s look closer:

    “Land use probably has a greater effect on warming over C02″

    Maybe it’s s not humans it’s humans? Anyway it is not true.

    Yes, deforestation, expansion in farming, desertification and urban sprawl (urban heat island effect) contributes to local climate change, but the planet is 71% Ocean and oceans are warming nearly as fast as land.

    Also, 93% heat added to the Earth, from global warming, is collected by the oceans. Water holds vastly more heat than air.

    “More than 90 percent of the warming that has happened on Earth over the past 50 years has occurred in the oceans. Recent studies estimate that warming of the upper oceans accounts for about 63 percent of the total increase in the amount of stored heat in the climate system from 1971 to 2010, and warming from 700 meters down to the ocean floor adds about another 30 percent.”

    So no, most of the warming is not due to land-use change, though it certainly plays a part, locally.

    https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-ocean-heat-content

    “And there is also a natural warming/natural cooling cycle in the climate.”

    Yes, there are local or regional climate cycles, driven by periodic changes in ocean currents, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation or the North Atlantic Oscillation (which strongly influences our summers).

    Changes in ocean currents help can cool the planet, by sending more warm water towards the Poles where is radiates heat and helps cool the planet, slowing global warming. Indeed, wind driven changes in ocean current in the Pacific helps slow cooling between 1998-2013 e.g.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_hiatus#/media/File:Global_warming_hiatus.gif

    Alternatively, changes in ocean current can exacerbate the effects of greenhouse gasses, by not moving as much warm water to the poles, and not cooling the planet.

    England, et al., 2014. Recent intensification of wind-driven circulation in the Pacific and the ongoing warming hiatus. Nature climate change, 4(3), pp.222-227.

    The warming hiatus ended in 2013.

    So ocean currents tend speed up or slow down warming, or redistribute heat, but they do not add heat energy to the system overall. They cannot cause warming over the long-term, globally. The system eventually reaches an equilibrium.

    Other common sceptic questions:

    The Sun?

    No, the Sun got very slightly dimmer over the last few decades due to a decrease in Sunspot activity since the 1950s.

    Dust, Soot?

    Dust and sooty air pollution helped cool the planet. But cleaner air, since the 1970s, cleared the sky and helped warmed some regions.

    We’re coming out of an Ice Age!

    We’re in an Ice Age, we’re in the interglacial period of the Holocene ice age. Also, over the last 8,000 years there’s been a very gradual warming trend and then a sudden warming in the last 150 years, far too fast to be natural.

    See: Revised Holocene temperature record affirms role of greenhouse gases in recent millennia

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Nov 18th 2021, 6:11 PM

    @David Jordan: Correction, I was looking at the wrong line (CO2) on a graph in the last link (Revised Holocene temperature record affirms role of greenhouse gases in recent millennia).

    There was a slow cooling trend in the last 8,000 years, that let to the Little Ice Age (1300 – 1850). This was followed by a very rapid warming in the last 150 years.

    This makes sense as it agrees with the current Milankovitch cycle which says we should be cooling and heading to a new period of glaciation in several thousand years.

    https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/

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    Mute ed w
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    Nov 18th 2021, 1:23 PM

    at least she’s not giving driving advice like the article I saw yesterday

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    Mute lelookcoco
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    Nov 18th 2021, 8:03 PM

    It is hellishly warm regardless of your religious beliefs.

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