In the midst of a housing crisis with chronic shortages of affordable accommodation, it is no surprise that there are huge fears among twentysomethings over housing and being able to find a home of their own.
Some 86 per cent of 25 year olds living in the Republic are “very concerned” about access to housing, a landmark study from the Central Statistics Office has found
The CSO report draws on data from the longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study and examines findings from a group of young people born in 1998. The first of two cohorts to be followed from childhood to adulthood were first surveyed at age nine.
The fifth survey of this cohort, carried out at the age of 25, found that almost 98 per cent of the 3,380 respondents were either somewhat or very concerned about housing prospects.
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Out of the entire cohort who took part in the survey, 3.8 per cent owned their own home at the age of 25.
Almost seven in 10 (69.9 per cent) were still living at home with their parents, a consistent pattern observed throughout the country.
Among those, 62.4 per cent cited “mostly financial reasons” for staying at home.
Of those who were not homeowners, 80.5 per cent expected to buy a home in the future.
Meanwhile, more than one in every eight people (12.7 per cent) eligible to be interviewed had emigrated.
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Just under 50 per cent of the cohort responded, and of the 7,870 approached for interview, 1,001 individuals said they were not living in Ireland.
Some 500 of those completed a separate survey, which found that more than five in six (84.7 per cent) planned to live abroad for 12 months or more.
Nearly half of those who had emigrated (48.6 per cent) planned to return to live in Ireland, while 30.2 per cent had not decided yet if they would return.
Just over one-fifth (21.2%) of respondents did not intend to return to live in Ireland in the future.
Some 35.6 per cent had emigrated to the United Kingdom, while nearly one-quarter (24.6 per cent) completed the survey from Australia or New Zealand.
More than four in 10 (43.3 per cent) had left Ireland for employment opportunities abroad. This was followed by education or training (21.1 per cent) and opportunities for holiday or travel (17.3 per cent).
The majority of respondents (60 per cent) had moved abroad since 2022.
Separately, more than one-third (34.2 per cent) of respondents said they had difficulties making ends meet, while one in 20 (5.3 per cent) reported “great difficulty” making ends meet.
Women experienced higher levels of economic hardship, according to the study, and reported difficulties making ends meet and skipping meals for financial reasons more frequently than men (24.5 per cent compared with 14.5 per cent).
Some 82 per cent of respondents were employed while about 60 per cent had achieved a university degree or equivalent qualification at the time of the survey.
The median weekly work-related income for a respondent in work in 2022 at age 24 was €558, though for men this was €64 per week higher than for women. This difference was greater for those who did not have a degree or equivalent.
Rates of depression or anxiety diagnoses, meanwhile, had increased since the cohort was surveyed at age 20 when fewer than two in 10 reported having such a diagnosis.
At age 25, this had risen to 25 per cent overall. When broken down by sex, 31.5 per cent of women reported receiving a depression or anxiety diagnosis by the age of 25 compared with 18.3 per cent of men.
About four in 10 (39 per cent) respondents engaged in what is considered hazardous drinking, while 51.3 per cent of respondents said they neither smoked nor vaped.
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