Young People in the Labour Market 2024

Introduction

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a continuous household survey conducted by the CSO and is the official source of statistics on employment and unemployment in Ireland.

Much of the LFS survey is governed by European Union (EU) Regulations (see 2019/1700 on Social Surveys (IESS) and 2019/2240 on LFS implementation) which prescribe the required methods, precision and core variables to be collected in the EU LFS across all EU member states.

In addition, the EU LFS implements an eight year cycle of modules on an ad hoc subject across all EU member states. The purpose of the additional module is to provide users with statistics on a specific topic concerning the labour market. The subject of the 2024 module was Young People in the Labour Market.

Core LFS Background Notes

Details on the sample design and data collection methods for Ireland’s core LFS are provided in the LFS Background Notes.

Subsample for Young People in the Labour Market module

The annual EU LFS module is asked to a subsample of LFS respondents across all four quarters in the reference year. Specifically, participants in Wave 3 are asked to complete the module if they are aged between 15 and 34.

Young People and the Labour Market 2024 questionnaire

Explanatory notes for the variables collected in the 2024 Young People in the Labour Market module are available on the Eurostat website.

The CSO instrument is available in the LFS Questionnaire (PDF 5,919KB)

Young people in the Labour Market variables

The variable collection in the module are as follows:

• DROPEDUC – Formal education or training abandoned
• DROPEDUCLEVEL – The level of formal education or trained abandoned
• DROPEDUCREAS – The main reason for not completing the formal education programmes referred to in DROPEDUCLEVEL
• MEDLEVQUAL – Young people with education level at or above ISCED 5 were asked if they also had a qualification at ISCED level 3 or 4
• LEVMATCH – Match between educational attainment level and current or last main job
• FIEDLMATCH – Match between field of the highest level of education successfully completed and current or last main job
• SKILLMATCH – Matched between skills and current or last main job