Young generation facing battle that seems tougher than their parents

PARENTS aspirations are simple and straightforward. They want their children to be safe, to be healthy and to be able to fend for themselves in life.

For that to happen parents by and large put themselves second and make sacrifices to ensure that their children get the opportunities in life that they perhaps were denied when they were growing up.

They work hard if they can, put money aside to pay for their children’s lifestyle and hobbies, but more particularly their education and hope that at the other end their children will find a good job, be able to buy a house and build a life for themselves.

Throughout the generations this has been a common goal and since the turn of the 20th century we have made massive strides in this regard, with the prospects of successive generations better than that of their parents.

Virtually everyone goes to school and the majority complete second level education, with many going onto third level education and completing honours degrees and indeed further education with master or doctorate qualifications.

Few school going children are forced to quit education to start working a full-time job at 14 or 15 as was the case at a time which is still in living memory for many.

Generation by generation, life was getting better, we were getting more educated, had more opportunities than the generation before with advances in technology and transportation making the world smaller than ever before.

That cycle continued nearly without interruption from generation to generation but we are now facing a huge challenge to that pattern.

Today’s Generation X are facing a future less secure, more challenging than that their parents and grandparents faced.

Access to education is freely available, but the cumulative cost of third level education is spiralling and putting it beyond the reach of some and while employment is growing, some of those jobs are not compatible with rearing a family.

There are many jobs available in the service and retail industries but the salary scales in these sectors make it difficult for workers to save a deposit for a home.

Even some traditionally secure jobs such as teaching and nursing are now paying lower salaries to new entrants.

The cost of property is a major concern for any young person looking to fly the nest and more and more young people cannot afford to move out from their home.

Rented accommodation is getting more and more expensive as the dearth of new house building right across the country is putting the power into the hands of landlords and renters are forced to take what they can get.

Property prices in Dublin are just off the scale and it is virtually impossible for young couples to afford anything more than a one or two bedroom apartment which is not ideal to family living in later years.

These issues need to be addressed and we should be forcing our political class to come up with some solutions.