The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (31 August 2023) published Census of Population 2022 Profile 3 - Households, Families and Childcare.
Tá leagan Gaeilge den leathanch seo ar fáil. Féach Preasráiteas - Daonáireamh 2022- Próifíl 3 - Líonta Tí, Teaghlaigh agus Cúram Leanaí.
The number of families with no children saw an increase of 11% since 2016 and of 14% compared with 2011.
There were 20% more one-parent father families with children who were renting than in Census 2016.
The number of same-sex couples increased by 157% compared with 2011 and stood at 10,393 in Census 2022.
Since 2016, the number of cohabiting couples without children living in private households went up by 17%, more than twice the growth rate of married couples without children living in private households.
In Census 2022, 8% of all people in private households lived alone, including 44% of those aged 85 years and over.
Of the 522,486 adults living with their parents, over half were in employment with 54% of males and 50% of females being at work.
There were 50% more adult unpaid carers living with their parents in 2022 than in 2016.
Of the 331,783 children aged under 15 who were in childcare, 3% or 9,789 reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent or a lot.
| Kathleen Goulding | (+353) 1 895 1413 |
|---|---|
| Tony Downes | (+353) 1 895 1319 |
| censuspublicity@cso.ie | |
| pressoffice@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (31 August 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 3 Households, Families and Childcare. It looks at family situations and the living arrangements of the population, and the different types and sizes of family compositions and households. Childcare arrangements (which was a new question on the Census 2022 form) are also detailed in this report.
Commenting on the results, Deirdre Lynch, Statistician in the Census Division, said:
“This profile reports on Households and Families in Ireland from Census 2022. The results show that the number of family units has increased by more than 5% between 2016 and 2022. The number of families with no children increased by 11% since 2016 and the average number of children per family decreased to 1.34, down from 1.38 in 2016.
The number of adults aged 18 years and over living with their parents increased by 14% between 2016 and 2022 with 522,846 adults living with their parents recorded.
Almost one-third (331,783) of children under the age of 15 in the State were in some form of childcare. A crèche or a similar facility was the most common form of childcare (42%), followed by childcare provided by an unpaid relative or family member (28%).”
Households, Families and Childcare – Some Highlights
Families
There were 1,279,951 families in the State on Census Night 2022. This was an increase of 61,581 (5%) since 2016.
The average number of children per family fell to 1.34 in 2022, having been 1.38 in both 2011 and 2016.
Since 1996, the number of families has increased from 806,835 (+59%), while the average number of children per family has fallen by 26%, from 1.82 to 1.34.
Almost 220,000 family households (17%) were headed by one parent in 2022. This included 186,487 one-parent mother families, and 33,509 one-parent father families.
The number of families without children increased to 394,052, which was up 11% since 2016, and 14% since 2011.
While most families (with or without children) owned their own homes (outright or with a mortgage), the number of families renting has grown. There was a 20% increase in renting among one parent father families.
The number of same-sex couples increased to 10,393. This was up 72% since 2016 and 157% since 2011.
There were 1,853 children who were living in a household with a same-sex couple, up 86% since 2016.
Private Households and Living Alone
The average household size fell slightly in Census 2022, to 2.74 people. It was 2.75 in 2016.
There was an increase in all household types living with other (unrelated) people. The number of one-parent families with children living in private households with other people grew by 6,509 (32%). There were 4,732 more married couples without children living in private households with others (up 36%), while 2,692 more cohabiting couples without children were living in private households with other people (up 39%).
There were an additional 19,673 married couples without children in private households, up 8%. This was less than half the rate of increase of cohabiting couples without children in private households, 17% (+ 11,516).
In April 2022 there were 425,974 people living alone, an increase of 7% since 2016. In total 8% of all people living in private households lived alone. More than one in four of those aged 65 and over lived alone, while 44% of those aged 85 and over did so.
The highest number of people living alone was in Dublin City, 61,525, followed by County Cork at 49,705 people.
Adults Living with Their Parents
Over half a million adults (aged 18 years and above) were living with their parents in April 2022. This was 63,612 more than in 2016 (+14%) and 83,008 more than in 2011 (+19%). However, the proportion of all adults aged 18 years and over living with their parents has remained the same across the three censuses, at 13% in each case.
In April 2022, some 22% of all 18- to 50-year-olds lived with their parents, up from 19% in 2011 and 20% in 2016.
Just 17% of all those aged 25 to 34 lived in the same household as their parents in 2011 but by Census 2022 this had increased to 23%.
The number of adults aged 50 and over living with their parents increased by 3,796 adults (26%) since 2016, and by 6,730 (56%) since 2011. This was the largest percentage increase of any age group.
There has been a large increase in the number of adults living with their parents who were also unpaid carers. Almost 25,000 such adults were unpaid carers, an increase of 50% compared with Census 2016. Over 40% of those adult unpaid carers were aged over 40 years.
There were more adult males than adult females living with their parents, continuing the trend from the previous two censuses. However, the proportion of males was down slightly, to 57%, compared with 59% in both 2011 and 2016.
Over half of all adults living with their parents were working, while just 4% of females and 8% of males were unemployed, having lost or given up their previous job. Of those, just under 15,000 (46%) were short-term unemployed while 54% were long-term unemployed.
Adults in South Dublin were the most likely to live with their parents (16%), while Galway City had the lowest proportion (9%).
Childcare
There were 1,012,287 children aged under 15 in the State in April 2022. This was an increase of 5,735 since 2016. Of these, almost one in three (331,783) were in some form of childcare. Just over four in 10 were in a crèche or similar facility (42%), while more than one in four were cared for by an unpaid relative or family member (28%).
Children in Monaghan were most likely to be in childcare (38%) while those in South Dublin and Dublin City were least likely (29%). Children in Galway City were most likely to be in crèches or similar facilities (57%) while those in Louth were the most likely to be minded by an unpaid relative or family member (36%).
Of those in childcare, almost two-thirds attended on a part-time basis (up to 20 hours per week) while almost one in six attended for 31 hours or more each week.
A crèche or similar facility was the most common childcare type among pre-school aged children (aged 0-4 years), at 56%. Almost one in three of those in childcare in this age group were there for 11-20 hours a week. Three quarters of these were either in a crèche (60%) or were cared for by an unpaid relative (15%).
Children of secondary school age (13-14) were most likely to be taken care of by an unpaid relative (64%). Fewer than half of those in this age group attending childcare (46%) did so for 1-10 hours.
Children of parents in the Higher professional socio-economic group were most likely to be in a crèche or similar facility (46%). Parents in the Unskilled and Semi-skilled groups were twice as likely to use unpaid relatives or family members for childcare compared with those in the Higher professional group (36% and 18% respectively). Farming and Lower professional groups’ parents were the most likely to choose a childminder in the childminder’s home for their childcare needs.
Almost 10,000 children in childcare in April 2022 (3%) had at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent or a lot. One in three of these were being cared for by an unpaid relative or family member, while three in 10 were in a crèche or similar facility.