Just under half of young Fórsa members are struggling to pay their rent, an Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) survey has found. The survey into housing costs for union members under 35 also found that 45% of Fórsa members were either unhappy living at home or felt trapped in the rental market.

A further 17% said they were very unhappy in their current living arrangements, while 68% had little confidence in their future ability to buy a home.

Fórsa lead organiser Joe O’Connor said young Fórsa members’ experience of housing costs were disturbing, but not hugely surprising given the scale of the housing crisis.

“It is unsustainable that over one-third of young Fórsa workers are seeing more than 30% of their take-home pay swallowed by spiralling rent costs, with almost half feeling insecure in their housing arrangements,” he said.

“It’s well past time for decisive Government action to tackle these crippling costs and uncertain tenancies,” he added.

Joe said it was significant that 80% of Fórsa members said the Government’s failure to address the housing crisis would influence how they will vote in elections.

Read about the overall survey results HERE.