Better educated, better paid, and locked out of housing – The Irish Times

Three separate reports have painted a picture of how Ireland is changing, particularly for those aged under 35.

As David McWilliams notes in his column this weekend, Ireland is now the most educated country on the planet, with 54 per cent of us holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.

McWilliams says this is a “phenomenal achievement” as “education is the fastest and most dependable avenue out of poverty”, and that countries that invest in mass education, no matter how many anomalies and inefficiencies in the system, are “rewarded with upward social mobility”.

In the under-35 age cohort the changes are particularly dramatic. College education attainment among this cohort now stands at 63.4 per cent, McWilliams writes.

“This represents a dramatic transformation – a 33-percentage-point increase from just 30 per cent in 2000 – and nearly a doubling of the OECD average growth rate.”

Ireland now holds the “second-highest third-level attainment rate in the EU 27 for the 30-34 age cohort”, he writes.

McWilliams suggests this surge in Irish third-level education could be the second part of an intergenerational process which started with free second-level education in 1967.

“The ensuing transformation of the Irish class system is likely to be repeated again, this time through the prism of college education.”

Earnings data from the CSO provides an insight into how these graduates are faring after college. As Cliff Taylor notes, average weekly earnings in Ireland have topped €1,000 for the first time, up from just over €700 in the first quarter of 2008.

The big picture within the data is that on average, earnings have risen by slightly over 40 per cent since 2008, while prices are up by around 27 per cent.

But as Taylor observes, averages hide a lot. “Both the level of pay and the rates of increase vary significantly from sector to sector – and within sectors.

“Over the past five years, for example, earnings in the information, communication and technology sector – including the big tech multinationals – are up by a striking 39 per cent while big domestic sectors such as wholesale and retail, construction and accommodation and food are all up by around 20 per cent.”

More highly educated graduates are more likely to secure these well-paying roles.

One example highlights the disparity in rates of pay, says Taylor. “The ICT sector is the top hourly earner – at €49.40 – while in accommodation and food the hourly figure is €17.50.”

While the rate of inflation has eased in recent years, “in many areas prices remain high, or are even still rising”, most particularly house prices and new rental costs, which “continue to rise more sharply, hampering many younger people in particular”.

Which brings us to the third data point, and one of particular interest to the under-35s – rents.

A recent report from Daft found that rents are now climbing faster than at any point over the past 20 years and between January and March the national monthly average surpassed €2,000 for the first time.

That figure represents a 48 per cent jump since just before the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020.

There were slightly more than 2,300 homes available to rent nationally on May 1st in the Republic, down 14 per cent year-on-year and the third lowest total for May in 20 years, the Daft report suggests.

The author of the report, economist and Trinity College professor Ronan Lyons, again called out the rental supply crunch as driving the sharp rise in rents. He suggested Government interventions in recent years may have exacerbated the problem.

Taken together, these data sources reveal an Ireland of ever more highly-qualified graduates, earning on average – and in particular in certain sectors – higher wages, but confronted with a housing market that, for now at least, is negating many of those advantages.

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