Time to think about the type of Ireland we want to live in
The impact of the various austerity measures over recent years has been, and continues to be, felt by families in every corner of the country. Whether it is pay, public services or social welfare; all measures point towards a drop in living standards that has been hard felt. Recent data from the CSO...
Labour Market conference held in UCC
On 1st May 2014 the NERI held a labour market conference in association with the UCC School of Economics. The conference included presentations from labour market experts working in academia, public institutions, and the trade unions. The NERI would like to thank all those who took part, and those...
Long-term unemployment stable as a share of total unemployment
Long-term unemployment has remained largely stable as a percentage of total unemployment over the past year. As total unemployment has been declining this means the number of long-term unemployed is also decreasing. As the proportion is largely stable it means that the long-term unemployed are not...
Monday Blog: Work, Pensions and Living Incomes
The topic of pensions is not the most exciting matter to consider on a bright spring Monday morning. If you are below a certain age you are more likely to be preoccupied about other matters including getting employment that pays an adequate and sustainable income in the near-term. If you are above a...
On the Generosity of Ireland's Welfare System
Earlier this week, the OECD launched their preliminary review of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs. The review rightly complements the significant labour market progress of recent years – a point we highlight in the most recent NERI Quarterly Economic Observer. There we anticipate unemployment...
Mixed signals from the NI Labour Market
As with buses, in Northern Ireland you wait and wait for economic statistics and then two come at once. Today the figures for the Northern Ireland Composite Economic Index were released. The NICEI is the latest attempt by statisticians to come up with a figure for economic growth in Northern Ireland...
Monday Blog: Investment, Jobs, Young Workers, Living Wage
Last week the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions held its Biennial Delegate conference in Derry. Over 230 delegates attended to debate a wide range of motions and issues. The detailed programme and accompanying documentation is available here . The economy report (pages...
Improving women's access to the labour market could create 65,000 jobs
A new paper ( available here) highlights some of the most prominent features of the Irish labour market; a polarised labour market with relatively low labour market participation for women. The implication for this is that, by increasing labour market access for women, roughly 65,000 jobs could be...
Monday Blog: Poverty, Wages and Violence
The publication – coincidentally – of two reports in Northern Ireland in the last week has drawn attention to the importance of wages in the Northern economy. While the reports received very extensive media coverage in the Northern media, there was very little in the South. This is regrettable as...
A Living Wage: the impacts for employees, employers and the state
A discussion on this issue of a living wage has recently commenced in Ireland. The implementation of a living wage raises issues regarding its impact on different actors in society (employees, employers, civil society and the state). Similarly, successful implementation faces a number of challenges...