Frances Ruane, Director, Economic and Social Research Institute Irish and international scholars continue to be curious about Ireland's exceptional economic success since the early 1990s. While growth rates peaked at the turn of the millennium, they have since continued at levels that are high by any current international or historical Irish measures. Despite differences of view among Irish economists and policymakers on the relative importance of the factors that have driven growth, there is widespread agreement that the process of globalisation has contributed to Ireland's economic development. In this context, it is helpful to recognise that globalisation has created huge changes in most developed and developing countries and has been associated, inter alia, with reductions in global income disparity but increased income disparity within individual countries. This book reflects on how, from a social perspective, Ireland has prospered over the past decade. In that period we have effectively moved from being a semi-developed to being a developed economy. While the book's main focus is on the social changes induced by economic growth, there is also recognition that social change has facilitated economic growth. Although many would regard the past decade as a period when economic and social elements have combined in a virtuous cycle, there is a lingering question as to the extent to which we have better lives now that we are economically 'better off'.

InhaltsangabeChapter 1. Quality of Life after the Boom, Tony Fahey, Helen Russell & Christopher T. Whelan. - Chapter 2. How do we Feel? Economic Boom and Happiness, Tony Fahey. - Chapter 3. Economic Growth and Income Inequality: Setting the Context, Brian Nolan & Bertrand Maître. - Chapter 4. Employment and the Quality of Work, Philip J. O'Connell & Helen Russell. - Chapter 5. Opportunities for All in the New Ireland? Christopher T. Whelan & Richard Layte. - Chapter 6. Consistent Poverty and Economic Vulnerability, Christopher T. Whelan, Brian Nolan & Bertrand Maître. - Chapter 7. Health and Health Care, Richard Layte, Anne Nolan & Brian Nolan. - Chapter 8. The Housing Boom, Tony Fahey & David Duffy. - Chapter 9. Changing Times, Changing Schools? Quality of Life for Students, Emer Smyth, Selina McCoy, Merike Darmody & Allison Dunne. - Chapter 10. Family and Sexuality, Toney Fahey & Richard Layte. - Chapter 11. Ties that Bind? The Social Fabric of Daily Life in New Surburbs, Mary P. Corcoran, Jane Gray & Michel Peillon. - Chapter 12. Gender, Work-Life Balance and Quality of Life, Frances McGinnity, Helen Russell & Emer Smyth. - Chapter 13. The Impact of Immigration, Gerard Hughes, Frances McGinnity, Philip O'Connell & Emma Quinn. - Chapter 14. Crime and its Consequences, Ian O'Donnell. - Chapter 15: Soaring in the Best of Times?, Robert Erikson. - References. - Index.