SILC Module on the Impact of Childhood Poverty Experiences on Adult Life 2023

Education

Free second-level education was introduced in Ireland in September 1967.  Increasing access to higher levels of education has had a significant impact on educational participation in Ireland with consequences for economic development, social mobility, and cultural change.

The number of both national and international students enrolling in full-time third level education rose from 18,499 in 1966 to 256,785 in 2022/2023,  according to the Department of Education and Skills (See Measuring Ireland's Progress 2022). Therefore, it is important to keep this in mind when looking at the current education of respondents in SILC 2023, as well as taking their childhood experiences into account.

Grouping SILC 2023 respondents into the age groups 25-39 and 40-59 highlights the impact of the 1967 Free Education scheme. Parents of respondents aged 25-39 were more likely to have a higher education level than the parents of those aged 40-59, reflecting a generational shift towards higher education in the latter end of the twentieth century. In SILC 2023, four in five (81.7%) of individuals aged 25-39 had a parent with at least an upper-secondary education compared with three in five (63.6%) of individuals aged 40-59 (See Figure 4.1 and PxStat Table SID22).

Notwithstanding, this report supports that there is a significant association between educational level of parents and the education of their children, despite the distinction between the age groups. There are many reasons for this, for example, parental education may influence the importance placed on education and affordability of third level education.

Individuals who had at least one parent with a third level education in childhood more likely to achieve a third level education

Of respondents (aged 25-59) whose parents had a third level education, eight in ten (79.7%) have a third level education themselves. In comparison just over three in ten (33.7%)  respondents whose parents had a low level of education have a third level education (See Figure 4.2 & PxStat Table SID23).

Looking at the impact of the financial circumstances of the childhood home on the current highest level of education attained in 2023, those who grew up with good financial circumstances were more likely to have a third level education compared with those who experienced bad financial circumstances in childhood, 64.1% compared with 38.7% (See Figure 4.3 & PxStat Table SID24).

This indicates that higher levels of education are associated with higher levels of income in the childhood household as educational attainment is likely to be influenced by the parental ability to financially support their child’s education (See PxStat Table SIA63).

More likely to be renting in adulthood if renting in childhood

Tenure

Cross comparing the current tenure status of individuals in SILC 2023 with their tenure status in childhood shows that those who grew up in households that were owner-occupied were more likely to currently be living in an owner-occupied household when compared to those who grew up in a rented household, 71.3% compared to 39.3% respectively (See Figure 4.4 and PxStat Table SID26).

It is worth noting here that the possibility of inheriting a home is higher for those whose parents owned their own home. Results from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) 2020 on the Intergenerational Transfer of Wealth show that homeowners were more than twice as likely as renters to have received an intergenerational transfer (44% compared with 18%).

Furthermore, in 2023, individuals who grew up with bad financial circumstances were more likely to be living in a rented household (53.8%) than an owner-occupied household (46.2%) (See Figure 4.5 and PxStat Table SID25).