The economic boom of the past decade has transformed Ireland and delivered far more social gains than losses, major new research by the Economic and Social Research Institute has concluded;
• Social mobility has increased as more people from modest backgrounds ascend into white-collar occupations.
• Poverty and deprivation rates have declined, although income inequality remains wide.
• The stresses of too much work and of juggling job and family life are less socially damaging than the stresses of too little work.
• Social support networks and attachments to communities remain strong. The image of masses of people lost and isolated in anonymous housing estates is belied by how settled and at home people feel in the new suburbs.
• People are marrying and having children at a higher rate than 15 years ago.
• National morale is among the highest in Europe.
Ireland is a small, open, trade-dependent economy and is one of the fastest growing economies in the developed world. With the power to vary it's corporate tax rate for it's own benefit. Wales needs the same power to compete.
Annette Strauch wrote...
Coming from Germany & having lived in Wales, I find social morale is very low here. Not many people would greet you. Children do not learn any manners! Also among staff in the National Library of Wales. I was extremely shocked what I experienced there. I also noticed the teenage pregnancies here just to the same extent as people with bad teeth!!
Posted by: Annette Strauch | July 23, 2007 8:52 PM