30 year old arts graduate struggling to get by

Opinions on that subject vary wildly. Some people are given houses for free because they can't/won't afford to rent at market rate, or get a mortgage. Others work themselves to the bone to put a roof over their heads. And then there's you OP...the single person not earning enough to live in the city and have your own space. I empathise with you, but you do have options.

You can leave Dublin, or Ireland completely and start afresh elsewhere. You would need to pick somewhere your education and experience would be advantageous to you. The next option you should consider is to retrain. Similar to another poster on here, I went to college as a mature student at 34, starting off doing a year to get to level 5 and then onto an IT for 3 more years to get my Level 7. I could have skipped the first year though, but I left school after my Jnr cert and my math skills were very basic. I chose Engineering for the challenge and because I reckoned there would always be a need for them.

You say your annual pay is 30k. I walked into a job earning more than that right after graduating and moved to another role where I have nearly doubled that income. It's about choosing what's right for you and unfortunately, an arts degree is generally not worth much unless you go into teaching, or you get lucky. If you can't earn what you need to at least have your own place (rented or mortgaged) then you need to change path, be it county, country or education. Don't feel like you've failed. Still a lot of time left in the game for you. Best of luck with your future.

That's the second or third time you have alluded to manual work/non-university type work about being somehow beneath you. I take back what I said about you being too hard on yourself. It seems you think you are better than these jobs because you did arts. You say not everyone can work in IT. Well, technical and manual jobs can pay well because many DO think it is somehow "beneath" them.

#onlyfans

Because conservatives keep voting for right-wing conservative parties? FFG have been in power for the past 100 years, but in the last 20 have taken a big push to the neo-liberal right. They don't even favour "small" landlords any more, they're literally preventing people from building and buying houses and apartments, so instead they can be bought by REITs and vulture funds. They are essentially giving away public land to developers to build private houses and social housing that they will then lease back to the state. Win-win for developers and vultures...

But conservatives keep voting for them, because... well, who knows?

Canada's a good option.

I’m not of your generation, but you certainly sound like “I did “x” and expect to get “y” “,, life doesn’t work like that. I did an arts degree, post grad, a second degree, masters at night, all the time working full time. I didn’t buy my first house till I was in my thirties.

lost money , long story, worked hard, worked abroad many times, trained in jobs, did night classes. Second house was bought in my 40s. Moved abroad again. Working all the time and learning all the time.

met someone again and settled down again.

life is never handed to anyone simply because you got a degree. You have to use that degree as a stepping stone.

now I am comfortable, but not because of a degree, simply because experience that I got along the way has paid dividends, lots of hard work, luck and quite a bit of taking chances.

Lots of people dont like IT so theres no point in retraining in something you have no interest in.

if you have an interest in politics, did you ever consider a job with a lobby organisation? Lobbyists seem to earn good salaries and need qualifications similar to yours but you might also need to have a bit of knowledge or a particular interest in, eg a topic close to your heart or your own situation that your peers are also affected by.

For instance, you are upset that you cant buy a home on your single salary. Maybe some group should be lobbying the government to change the rules about building smaller sized apartments so that single people can afford to buy rather than the current rules which puts them out of reach for so many.

Maybe theres a lobby group for something you are passionate about that would pay well.

https://www.payscale.com

https://www.lobbying.ie

A friend started in one of those roles about 6-7 years ago. They are now head of comms for a substantial, high profile public body, one that is in the news pretty much every week. They are at AP level, €65k-€90k.

I echo the positive sentiments regarding the OP and wish all the best.

To be honest my immediate reaction to the title of the thread was this must be a piss take or something.

It is a salutary warning though - don't do nonsense degrees if standard of living is a priority for you. If the area is your passion, something you love, and you want that degree by all means but be sure you understand the impact that can have on your earning power and accept that. Do your research.

There are too many people taking the type of degrees that are too numerous these days that will just land them in trouble really later on.

4 years in College is not a frat party although many treat it that way. It will probably determine how you have to live your life afterward, what you can and can't do, your prospects.

It's a serious choice.

My strong advice OP - go back, get a degree in finance or computing or pharma etc - some area in real demand paying good money - see what appeals to you. You have plenty of time.