A Social Report for Ireland Volume II - the NESC Website

156Participation in education and training has the immediate benefits of achievementbut also provides a currency to become established in the workplace and toprogress in life. The highest qualification of 37 per cent of unemployed men is lowersecondary or below. Unemployed women are better qualified – 18 per cent havelower secondary or below as their highest qualification, while 30 per cent have adegree compared to 17 per cent of men. To some extent this reflects the increasingunemployment rates among graduates, which is an aspect of the economicrecession. Participation in life-long learning is relatively low at 8 per cent andmost of these participants are already in work. People who participate in life-longlearning tend to be those who are already relatively well qualified. Cost barriershave been identified, especially for those in the lower socio-economic groups. Anotable feature of educational achievement and participation is the extent towhich women achieve better and participate more than men, yet women get lowerrewards from the labour market and have greater demands on their time.In the context of the recession, the overall challenge is on creating and retainingjobs, and providing an immediate and tailored response to people who becomeor are unemployed. A range of initiatives are already underway, but there is achallenge to meet the scale of the response required, especially in the context ofan overall reduction in public expenditure. While the challenge of encouragingand supporting the participation of working age people during a recession is notto be under–estimated it does provide an opportunity to address structural andinstitutional weaknesses and to re-organise our systems to be more flexible andtailored, but at the same time supportive, to meet the diverse range of needs.Such an approach would be beneficial to the well-being of individuals and towider society.Relationships and care have a strong influence on well-being. Stable affectiverelationships have a beneficial impact on well-being while disharmony andthe severing of relationships can have a very damaging effect. The natureof relationships in Ireland has changed: people are choosing to cohabit as arelationship choice or as a precursor to marriage; people are separating/divorcingand forming new relationships; people are having children later in life; and morepeople are parenting alone, by choice or circumstance. Policy needs to adapt tothese changed circumstances to ensure that people have security and supports forthemselves and their families when they need them. In general, Irish people aresatisfied with family life.Caring is an important aspect of well-being in society – both for the carer and thosebeing cared for. In relation to caring, more than one fifth of lone parents said theywould like to change their work/caring balance, in the main to work more. Nearly10 per cent of couples with children would like to increase their care and work less.Focusing on caring in relation to disability, illness and old age there are 161,000carers in Ireland, just under 30 per cent of whom are in receipt of a carers payment.Many carers combine caring roles with paid employment or unpaid responsibilitiesin the home. The majority of carers and those in receipt of carers payments arewomen. Carers provide an invaluable service to those they care for, but it is ademanding and emotional responsibility.