The unemployment rate for Arts, and Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction students fell between 2011 and 2016 according to Census 2016 figures released today.
Unemployment rates fell the most between 2011 and 2016 for those with a qualification in Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction, with the rate falling from 15.7% to 6.0% during that period.
For Arts graduates, the unemployment rate decreased by 5.5%, down to 11.6%, although Arts graduates face the highest unemployment rate among those with third level degrees. Those with a qualification in Education had the lowest unemployment rate in 2016 at 3.1%.
The figures released today also demonstrate the increasing rate of people undertaking third-level education. When the census was conducted in April 2016, 42% of people aged 15 and over had a third-level qualification, compared with only 13.6% in 1991.
Constituencies with the highest rates of third-level education were Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (61.1%), Galway City (55.2%), Dublin City (48.7%) and Fingal (48.7%). The lowest rates were in Longford and Wexford (32.5%).
It has been revealed that a higher proportion of women in Ireland hold third-level qualifications in comparison to men. 43.2% of women aged 15 and over hold a third-level qualification, while 40.7% of men hold the same.
In 1991, 14.0% of men and 13.2% of women were educated to third-level. Women’s participation in third-level education has become considerably more pronounced, with 1991 being the last census to indicate a higher proportion of third-level qualifications among men compared to women.
The number of people holding a Ph.D. has doubled over the last decade, rising from 14,412 in 2006 to 28,759 in 2016. More men have a Ph.D than women (16,016 and 12,743 respectively), although this gap has narrowed since 2011.
The likelihood of being in education remains higher among individuals from higher socio-economic groups. Census 2016 found that of 2,008 20 year olds identified as being in the higher-professional category, 94.4% were students. This was the highest percentage of any socio-economic group. In comparison, the lowest participation in third-level education was found among children of “agricultural workers” at 25.9%.
The census also revealed that Irish language ability has declined slightly since 2011, decreasing by 0.7% to 39.8% of the population. More women than men stated that they could speak Irish.
Among individuals who spoke Irish daily, Dublin City and the Dublin suburbs accounted for 20.2% of the share, while 8.2% of daily Irish speakers lived in Cork, Galway and Limerick collectively. The largest numbers of daily speakers lived in An Bun Beag-Doirí Beaga, Letterkenny and Swords.
