With housing the most important issue for the new Government, it seems the issue dominates the lives of 25-year-olds in Ireland. The Central Statistics Office released a major new survey called Growing Up in Ireland on Monday, which asked adults born in 1998 about which issues mattered most to them.
While almost all 25-year-olds surveyed say they are concerned about the housing situation, there are number of other interesting statistics looking at the living situations of this cohort.
So what does the survey have to say about this generation?
Living at home
At age 25, almost 70 per cent of this specific cohort were still living in the parental home, with this being a consistent pattern observed throughout the country.
This ranged from 63.5 per cent of respondents in the Midlands (Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath) still living at home, to 82.4 per cent of respondents in the Mid-East region (Kildare, Louth, Meath,Wicklow).
Of those who said they were employed, just over two-thirds (68.5 per cent) lived in the parental home.
The survey found that of those in Cohort '98 still living in the parental home, more than six in ten (62.4 per cent) were doing so for mostly financial reasons.
Some 7.5 per cent of respondents at age 25 years were living outside both the parental home and outside the region they had lived in when they were aged nine years old.
At age 20, more than two-thirds of this group lived with their parents and two out of five indicated very high levels of concern about access to housing in Ireland.
Meanwhile, 12.7 per cent of the respondents contacted to take part had emigrated.
Life situation
Just over one-third (34.2 per cent) of Cohort '98 said they had difficulties making ends meet.
A majority (58.5 per cent) of respondents were in a romantic relationship.
Nearly one-third (31.5 per cent) of women in this group had been diagnosed with either depression or anxiety at some point in their lives.
A majority (51.2 per cent) of men in the group with a degree level education engaged in drinking alcohol to a level that the World Health Organisation (WHO) categorise as hazardous or dangerous.
Of those with another principal economic status (unemployed, a student, or not in employment, education, or training), 76.2 per cent lived in the parental home.
Almost one in five (19.9 per cent) respondents said they had no interest in politics.
Financial concerns
Respondents were asked to choose the main reason for staying in the parental home – whether it was for mostly financial reasons, only slightly for financial reasons, or had nothing to do with finance.
More than six in ten (62.4 per cent) of those living in the parental home cited mostly financial reasons for staying, which was slightly higher for females (64.6 per cent) than for males (60.2 per cent).
Only 12.4 per cent of respondents said that living in the family home had nothing to do with finances, which differed little between men and women.
Around one in seven (12.7 per cent) respondents who had been living in the parental home when they were aged 20 were living outside the parental home at the age of 25.
A similar proportion (13.4 per cent) of respondents had moved back home at age 25 after a period of living away from the parental home.
Those who had moved out of the parental home have shown a large degree of consistency in choosing their next location.
Of the respondents who had moved out of their parent’s home at age 25, 71.7 per cent lived in the same region they did when they were aged nine.
Only 7.5 per cent of respondents at age 25 were living outside both the parental home and outside the region they had lived in when they were aged nine.
Living independently
The survey said of those who were living independently 58.0 per cent rented on the commercial market, with smaller numbers renting from a family member (8.0 per cent) or living rent free (11.1 per cent).
Less than one-eighth (12 per cent) of those living independently were homeowners. Out of the entire cohort who took part in the survey, only 3.8 per cent owned their own home at the age of 25.
Of those who were not homeowners, eight in ten (80.5 per cent) expected to buy a home in the future.
There was little difference between men and women in terms of their expectations with 79.5 per cent of men expecting to become homeowners compared with 81.5 per cent of women
Of those who said their principal economic status was employed, 83.5 per cent expected to become homeowners.
Of those who said their principal economic status was something other than employed – whether unemployed, a student, or not in education, employment, or training – 66.7 per cent expected to become homeowners.
