Ireland’s unemployment rate has reached all-time lows and people are not able to experience the benefits. Rising house prices are increasing faster than the raise in wages causing bad living standards for many people. The Central Statistics Office posted an unemployment rate at 4.5% last month. Despite this low number, ICTU President Sheila Nunan is still worried about different groups of people that are affected. She mentioned additional problems like youth joblessness, skills shortages, and low employment levels for women as factors that need to be addressed.
Rent has risen approximately 8% in the last year while wage hikes have averaged about 3% over the same period. Many people are calling for wage hikes to be implemented to allow people to afford rising costs in the housing markets. Rent costs contribute to more than half of minimum living costs in Dublin.
The living wage refers to the wage that people need to earn to be able to afford the minimum basket of goods and services. Few employees have used that number as the starting salary for their employees and instead …
