Pulse Survey - Life at Home 2021: Renters, Lone Parents and Adults Living Alone or with a Parent

Each of us has a unique life at home, with different relationships, supports and challenges. The distribution of power and decision-making in private life, which has an influence on the ability of people to access opportunities outside the home, is infrequently measured.

This is why the Central Statistics Office (CSO) chose ‘Life at Home’ as the topic for the first online CSO Pulse Survey as part of the CSO ‘Take Part’ campaign. Pulse surveys, which take the ‘pulse’ of the country about an issue at a point in time, are usually short and frequent. The ‘Life at Home’ CSO Pulse Survey was carried out online between Monday 24 May and Monday 07 June 2021 and was open to anyone aged 18 and over living in private accommodation in the Republic of Ireland. The online electronic questionnaire was available on the CSO.ie website and on all CSO social media platforms. There were 10,454 responses.

This is the second of three publications planned from the ‘Life at Home’ survey. Pulse Survey May-June 2021 - Life at Home Snapshot of Results was published on 22 June.  The topics covered in this publication include insights and experiences of respondents who live alone, lone parents, persons sharing rented accommodation with unrelated housemates and adult children who live with a parent. Analysis is provided across key personal and household demographic characteristics, reflecting how these characteristics impact different people in different ways. The third report from this survey will be published on 16 July and will focus on what respondents who live with a spouse/partner told us about their circumstances. We hope that these publications will provide relevant, timely and insightful data for the public.

This report is a Frontier publication. The results in this report reflect only the responses of those who completed the Pulse survey questionnaire. While results are benchmarked to Irish population totals, the findings cannot be generalised to the entire Irish population, as the people who answered the questionnaire were not chosen at random from the population. Even with this caveat however, we hope that this report provides a valuable insight into life at home in Ireland. See the Background Notes go for further details on the survey methodology.

Respondents Living on their Own

• More than nine in ten (92%) respondents who live on their own said they feel safe and secure in their home, 86% said they are happy living alone and 83% have someone to count on if they have a serious personal problem.
• Three in ten (30%) said they are often under financial pressure while 17% said they feel lonely all or most of the time.
• Overall, one in three (34%) respondents said they would prefer to live with others. Almost two in three (64%) of those who believe that living alone has a negative effect on their mental health/wellbeing would prefer to live with others.
• More than one in three (36%) home owners without a mortgage who live alone would prefer to live with others. The comparable rate for those with a mortgage is 34%.
• Although female respondents living alone were more likely to report that they feel lonely all or most of the time (19% compared with 14% of male respondents who live alone), they were less likely to say they would prefer to live with others (32% compared with 37% of males).
• Almost four in ten respondents (39%) living alone in both the 46-55 and 56-65 age categories said they are often under financial pressure. This compares with just over two in ten (22%) of those aged over 65.
• Respondents living alone in rented accommodation were more likely to report feeling lonely all or most of the time with almost one in four (24%) feeling this way compared with 15% of those that own their home outright and 11% of those that have a mortgage on their dwelling.
• Almost half (47%) of respondents living alone in rented accommodation said they are often under financial pressure. The comparable rate for those who live alone and own their home without a mortgage is 22%.
• Approximately eight in ten owner occupiers living alone said they can get practical help if they need it compared with less than seven in ten (68%) respondents who live alone in rented accommodation.
• Respondents who live alone and have fair, poor or very poor health were more likely to say they feel lonely all or most of the time (29% compared with 11% of those with good or very good health) and to say they often feel under financial pressure (48% compared with 23% of those with better health).
• Seven in ten (71%) respondents with fair, poor or very poor health who live alone said they have someone they can count on if they have a serious personal problem compared with almost nine in ten (88%) who rated their health as good or very good.
• Almost all respondents (98%) living alone with a dog as their only pet said their dog has a positive effect on their mental health/wellbeing. The comparable rate for respondents living in multi-person households is 89%.
• Respondents living alone with only a dog as a pet were more likely to report that the pet has a positive effect on mental health/wellbeing when compared with respondents who live alone and have a cat as the only pet (98% compared with 88% for cat owners).

Respondents who are lone parents

• More than four in ten (41%) lone parents said they feel lonely all or most of the time. This rate is much higher than the rate reported by those who live alone (17%).
• Almost one in two (48%) lone parent respondents who are not in full-time employment reported feeling lonely all or most of the time compared with one in three (33%) who are in full-time employment.
• Almost one in two (48%) lone parents said they often experience judgemental attitudes or exclusion as a lone parent.
• Just under six in ten (58%) lone parents living in rented accommodation said they often experience judgemental attitudes or exclusion as a lone parent compared with 23% of lone parent home owners who don’t have a mortgage.
• Overall, almost seven in ten (68%) lone parents said they are often under financial pressure. The comparable rate for respondents living alone is three in ten (30%).
• Eight in ten (80%) lone parents who live in rented accommodation often feel under financial pressure, compared with 64% of those who own their dwelling with a mortgage and 39% who own their dwelling outright.
• Overall, almost three in four (74%) lone parents said they have someone to count on if they have a serious personal problem. The comparable rate for persons living on their own is 83%.
• Almost nine in ten (88%) lone parents under the age of 40 said they have someone they can count on of they have a serious personal problem compared with seven in ten (70%) lone parents aged 40 and over.
• Almost half (48%) of lone parents said they have someone to help them provide emotional support for their child(ren). Four in ten (40%) said they have someone to help them provide structure and discipline for their child(ren).
• Younger lone parents (aged less than 40) were less likely to report that they can get practical help if needed (65% compared with 73% of those aged 40 and over).
• Almost two in three (64%) lone parent respondents who are in full-time employment said they have access to suitable childcare. The comparable rate for those not in full-time employment is 43%.

Respondents who do not live with a partner and who share rented accommodation with unrelated housemates

• Just over three quarters (76%) of respondents who share rented accommodation with unrelated housemates feel they will never be in a position to own their own place.
• Analysis by labour market activity shows that 72% of those in full-time employment and 86% of those not in full-time employment feel they will never be in a position to own their own place.
• Although seven in ten (71%) said they enjoy the company of others in the shared accommodation, more than half (51%) feel they don’t have enough privacy.
• More than four in ten (44%) reported feeling lonely all or most of the time. This is higher than the rate reported by lone parents (41%) and by those living alone (17%).
• The percentage of respondents living in shared rented accommodation feeling lonely all or most of the time is significantly lower for those in full-time employment (36% compared with 63% for those not in full-time employment).
• Female and male respondents in mixed sex accommodation are more likely to feel lonely all or most of the time when compared with respondents in same sex accommodation. Almost four in ten (38%) female respondents and three in ten (31%) males sharing accommodation with housemates of the same sex report feeling lonely all or most of the time. This rate increases to more than half for female (53%) and male (51%) respondents living in mixed sex accommodation.
• Overall, just over half (52%) of those living in a house share have a housemate that they can count on if they have a serious personal problem.
• Six in ten (60%) female respondents in all-female accommodation have a housemate they can count on. This drops to 49% for females in a mixed sex accommodation. More than half (53%) of males in all-male accommodation have a housemate they can count on. This drops to 49% for males in mixed sex accommodation.
• Almost nine in ten (86%) male respondents who live in an all-male accommodation said they enjoy the company of their housemates. For male respondents who live in a mixed sex accommodation this drops to 72%.
• Over six in ten (63%) female respondents living in an all-female accommodation said they enjoy the company of their housemates. This increases to 68% for females in a mixed sex accommodation.
• Overall female respondents were more likely to say they don’t have enough privacy (57% compared with 44% of male respondents). For females living in a mixed sex accommodation, 62% don’t have enough privacy.
• More than one in three (35%) male respondents in all-male accommodation said they Never disagree with their housemates about sharing household chores. The comparable rate for females in all-female accommodation is less than one in four (23%).
• More than five in ten (52%) males and four in ten (39%) females in same sex accommodation said they Never disagree about household expenses. Almost five in ten (48%) males and four in ten (38%) females in same sex accommodation said they Never disagree about using shared household facilities e.g. bathroom, cooking area and TV.
• Male respondents in all-male accommodation were also more likely to say that they Never disagree about excess noise made by housemates (43% compared with 34% of females in all-female accommodation) and to Never disagree about having people over to visit (36% compared with 26% of females in all-female accommodation)
• Overall almost one in two (49%) respondents living in shared rented accommodation said they Sometimes or Often have disagreements with their housemates about sharing household chores. One in three (34%) disagree Sometimes or Often about using shared household facilities e.g. bathroom, cooking area, TV. More than four in ten (42%) disagree Sometimes or Often about excess noise made by housemates and 45% Sometimes or Often disagree about having people over to visit.

Respondents who live with a parent

• Almost six in ten (57%) respondents who live with a parent said they enjoy living with their parent(s). In comparison, almost nine in ten (87%) parents who have an adult child living with them said they enjoy living with their adult child(ren).
• Almost nine in ten (88%) respondents who are living with a parent said they would prefer to live apart from their parent(s). Half (50%) of parents who live with an adult child would prefer if they lived apart.
• Just over six in ten (62%) adult children would miss their parent(s) if they lived apart, while more than seven in ten (73%) parents with adult children would miss them if they lived separately.
• When asked about changes in the relationship with parents since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, respondents living with both parents were more likely to say the relationship with their parents has improved rather than say it has disimproved.
• Almost three in ten (29%) respondents who live with both parents reported an improvement in the relationship with their mother, almost double the percentage (16%) that reported a disimprovement.
• One in four (25%) reported an improvement and 17% reported a disimprovement in the relationship with their father.
• Respondents living with one parent were more likely to say the relationship with their parent has disimproved since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. Almost one in four (24%) who live with their mother (and not their father) said the relationship has disimproved with 18% saying it has improved.
• Almost three in ten (28%) who live with their father (and not their mother) said the relationship has disimproved since COVID-19 and less than two in ten (19%) said it has improved.
• A higher percentage of respondents that have moved back home to live with both parents, since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis said the relationship with their mother improved (31%) than the percentage who said the relationship with their father had improved (22%).
• More than six in ten (62%) full-time employed respondents living with parents, do so for mostly financial reasons.
• More than half (52%) of respondents living with parent(s) said their parent(s) will not treat them like an adult until they move out.
• More than eight in ten (83%) Full-time employed respondents who live with a parent contribute to household expenses, 64% of Part-time employed respondents contribute and almost three in ten (29%) Students contribute to household expenses.
• When compared with male respondents who are living with parent(s), female respondents were more likely to say they ‘Often’ have disagreements with others in the household. Almost three in ten (28%) female respondents Often disagree about sharing household chores compared with less than two in ten (18%) males. Almost one in four (24%) Often disagree about using shared household facilities compared with one in ten (10%) male respondents. Almost one in four (24%) Often disagree about excess noise being made by others in the household compared with 15% of male respondents.
• More than two in ten (22%) respondents living with both parents said their father’s opinion mostly prevails and double the amount (44%) said it is their mother's opinion that usually prevails when there is a disagreement between their parents (the remaining 35% saying it is balanced).