SILC Module on the Intergenerational Transmission of Disadvantages 2019

This new CSO report focuses on intergenerational transmission of disadvantages and is based on data from a 2019 module in the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), an annual survey of households which has been the official source of household income and poverty statistics in Ireland since 2004.

This report explores if a person’s household circumstances as a teenager are associated with poverty indicators in later life.  It is based on answers from people aged 25-59 about their life situation when they were about 14 years old with a focus on three major themes – how the financial situation of the teenage household, the education and work status of the parents are linked to economic outcomes in later adult life.

This publication is based on responses from people aged 25-59 in 2019 about their household structure and socio-economic circumstances as a teenager.

Consequently, the reference period for this information spans a 35-year period from the mid-1970’s to the late 2000’s.  Over this time Irish society underwent major economic and social changes, which should be borne in mind when interpreting the results.  This transformation is particularly evident when comparing the circumstances as a teenager of the 25-39 age group with the 40-59 age group.

Persistence of education level examines the association between the education level of parents and children.  More than three in four (77.9%) respondents who had parents with third level education, themselves went on to attain a third level education.  Three in ten (30.6%) respondents whose parents’ highest level of education was lower secondary, were themselves at this level as adults.

Education in turn is linked with earning potential and household income, and consequently with the risk of poverty.  Of respondents whose parents had lower secondary education, 16.2% were at risk of poverty as adults in 2019, compared with 6.2% who had parents with third level education.

Respondents who grew up in a household where either one or both parents worked were more likely themselves to be working as adults in later life.  In 2019, more than two in five (41.7%) respondents who as teenagers lived in households with no working parents, were themselves not at work.  This compares with less than one in five (18.2%) respondents who as teenagers lived in households with two working parents.

Financial disadvantage in childhood appears to persist to adulthood.  People who described the financial situation of their teenage home as bad were less likely to be at work or to have third level education.  Respondents who had a bad financial situation in their teenage home were most likely to be at risk of poverty (18.2%) or living in enforced deprivation (39.0%) as adults in 2019.

In contrast, respondents who said the financial situation of their teenage home was good were the least likely to be at risk of poverty (8.4%) or living in enforced deprivation (10.1%) as an adult in 2019.

People who had a positive financial situation in their household as a teenager had higher home ownership rates.  For people who said the financial situation of their teenage home was good, 55.9% owned their home in 2019 compared with 46.6% who had a bad financial situation in their teenage home.