People working in Connacht and Ulster are less likely than their counterparts in Leinster and Munster to have access to flexitime policy at work, according to the latest Reflecting Ireland research from Permanent TSB.
Just over a third (35% ) of workers in the northwest provinces have a degree of control over when they start and finish their workday compared to 56% of those in Dublin, 52% in the rest of Leinster and 50% of those in Munster.
The research also found that people in Connacht and Ulster place twice as much importance on the size of a property when choosing where to live. 6% of those surveyed across both provinces said this was most important factor, compared to 2% in Dublin, 3% in rest of Leinster and 3% in Munster who said the same.
The findings are part of Permanent TSB’s look at the changing lives of people in Ireland since the pandemic. Nationally, the research found there has been an increase in the number of people with a more positive view of the economy over recent months.
The research was undertaken by Core Research in March 2023 amongst 1,000 adults. It continues to show public concern about the economy but also finds an increase in the number of people who express optimism across several key areas.
Relevant findings include:
There was a rise of 6% in the number of people who believe the economic situation will improve over the coming 12 months (17% in this report, up from 11% in November 2022 ). However, a greater number, 49% of respondents indicated that they felt the economic situation will deteriorate over that period (63% in November )
There was a rise of 4% in the number of people who believe that they are better off now than 12 months ago (15% in this report, up from 11% in November 2022 ). In contrast the percentage of people who believe they are now worse off than 12 months ago fell to 56% (down from 63% last November ).
Looking ahead 22% of respondents said that they expect to be better off in 12 months’ time. That compares to 18% in the November survey. The percentage which believes they will be worse off over the coming 12 months declined to 38% from 47%.
When asked their views on whether or not the country was on the right track currently, 60% said we are “off-course” while 28% said we were “on-the-right-track”. This compares to 62% and 25% respectively in the November survey.
Speaking about the findings, Leontia Fannin, Head of Corporate Affairs with Permanent TSB said: “there is a subtle but significant shift in opinion from November which suggests that more people think the worst of the Cost-of-Living crisis is behind us. It will be interesting to see whether that more optimistic mood continues or is paused in the coming months.”
