What emerges clearly is how strong our sense of community is in Ireland. Two thirds of us feel we know our neighbours well, and that there is a strong community spirit where we live. A third of us feel that the pandemic has if anything strengthened those community bonds. That sense of community is felt most strongly by those who actively participate or volunteer in their local community.

People are pretty clear about what makes a good community: 8 out of 10 believe it’s about people helping each other out or looking out for vulnerable neighbours, 7 out of 10 feel it’s about having a sense of physical security.  People are also clear about what gets in the way. Three quarters of us feel it’s people being too busy, two thirds feel it’s because some people just like to keep to themselves.

We also find that while community is important to people, rising house prices are making it more difficult for people to afford to live where they would like to. A third (35%) say they can’t afford to live in the area they’re from. Almost half (47%) say they can’t afford to live in their preferred community, and that rises to 60% among the under 35s.  The evidence shows that the housing market is limiting people’s options, when it comes to choosing the community that they would like to live in.

The rising cost of living continues to weigh heavily on peoples’ minds. 60% feel they’re financially worse off than this time last year, which is double the level (30%) at the start of the year. Half of us expect to be even worse off next year - again that’s twice as many as in January.  Negative sentiment has now reached levels that have not been seen since the financial crisis over a decade ago. And it’s impacting more of us. For the first time, we’re seeing that even those on higher incomes are now beginning to fear the effects of the rising cost of living. 

Download the full report here:

https://www.permanenttsb.ie/blog/reflecting-ireland--an-insight-into-consumer-behavioural-change-in-ireland--community/