In today’s Ireland there is a growing phenomenon of involuntary multi-generational living, brought about by the economic climate and the lack of employment prospects for young adults who have left school or college. Parents who might have been thinking of downsizing have been dealt a double blow as their family home may be worth much less than when purchased, making such a move impossible, while at the same time they have to continue to support their adult offspring and learn new ways of dealing with the shifting landscape of these changing relationships. The rules of living together in a household consisting of adults of differing ages are not the same as those drawn up to deal with toddlers and moody teenagers, and delicate negotiations are needed to achieve a workable solution in which someone remembers to put the bin out on the right day or thinks of dealing with the laundry or the dishwasher.

What is to become of this generation of young people? They do not want to remain living in the family home indefinitely, that is not good for either party. It is disheartening having spent years being urged by parents and teachers to study for qualifications to see cv after cv sent out to prospective employers and not even receive an acknowledgement. Those who do secure an internship may be used by unscrupulous employers to put in dozens of hours of work on projects only to be sent away at the end of the period with insincere promises of references. Those who have the means will emigrate, but many do not have the required means as to travel to North America or Australia in search of a better life requires money, which requires a job, squaring the circle. It is as Joseph Heller put it, a “Catch 22”.

It is an unhappy situation from many points of view. It is simplistic to place the blame on any one set of individuals, but the rampant greed prevalent in Ireland during the boom years of the Celtic Tiger along with irresponsible bank lending and lack of governance propelled the country into this morass of austerity in which the only winners are the banks who continue to be bailed out by the ordinary people while simultaneously slashing their level of customer service.

It is hard to imagine where this will all lead, and what the demographic composition of Ireland will be like in 10 to 15 years’ time. Austerity will not drive growth in the business sector, and continuing economic contraction and cutbacks  will not provide a stimulus for job creation. Young adults do not see a role for themselves in all of this; good jobs are few and far between and seeking welfare assistance for everyday living costs is a Kafkaesque nightmare of forms and microscopic scrutiny of one’s personal affairs. It is more than likely that the Irish diaspora worldwide will increase greatly in number, and also more than likely that the new members of this group will  return only for weddings and funerals, if that. If nothing else, the parents of this disaffected generation will have wonderful opportunities to travel to see their far flung offspring.