Asked what worries them, Irish 20-year-olds are most likely to say getting a home, particularly those who come from less advantaged backgrounds. Climate change and poverty are also chief among their concerns.
While almost three quarters expressed their hopes for financial security and a good job, comparatively few attached much importance to being in a long-term relationship or having a baby over the coming decade. More than a third overall are overweight, with 16 per cent of women aged 20 classified as obese – almost double the number of men, at 9 per cent. Young women are also less likely to be physically active than young men.
Some 15 per cent smoked daily, rising to almost one in four smoking occasionally, while almost all drink alcohol and nearly a quarter take cannabis “occasionally or more often”, the study found., a research professor at the ESRI and one of the report’s authors, said the overall findings “paint a generally positive picture of the lives of 20-year-olds and their engagement with the wider world”.
There is nothing to do. No affordable sports facilities available. No decent parks or public spaces. I live in a town with a park full of litter and broken trees. The only decent walk was washed away in a flood 3 years ago and never repaired. There's nowhere to cycle for kids.