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

Purpose of Survey

For information on the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) methodology, see Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2023 Background Notes.

This report presents data from 2023 on people aged 25 to 59 years living in private households in Ireland, focusing on how early socio-economic conditions shape current ones. More specifically, the household financial conditions and parental influences when the respondent was around 14 years old.

Highest level of education attained by both parents 

Answer options:

1. Low level (less than primary education, primary education or lower secondary education)
2. Medium level (upper secondary education and post-secondary non-tertiary education)
3. High level (short-cycle tertiary education, bachelor’s or equivalent level, master’s or equivalent level, doctoral or equivalent level)
4. Don’t know

Activity status of both parents 

Answer options:

1. Employed
2. Self-employed (including family worker)
3. Unemployed
4. In retirement or in early retirement
5. Fulfilling domestic tasks
6. Inability to work due to long-standing health problems
7. Other inactive person
8. Don’t know

Financial situation of the household when respondent was around 14 years old

Answer options:

1. Very bad
2. Bad
3. Moderately bad
4. Moderately good
5. Good
6. Very good
7. Don't know

Tenancy status when respondent was around 14 years old

Answer options:

1. Owned
2. Rented
3. Accommodation provided for free
4. Don’t know

Presence of mother/father when respondent was around 14 years old

Answer options:

1. Yes
2. No, she/he did not live in the same household but I had contact
3. No, she/he did not live in the same household and I had no contact
4. No, deceased

Weighting

Please note that all figures published in this report have accounted for both direct and non-direct response. Results previously published in the SILC 2023 Well-being report differ in that they account for direct responses only. 

Further information on the SILC’s methodology is available in the Background Notes section. 

Indicators

At risk of poverty rate 

This is the share of persons with an equivalised income below 60% of the national median income. The rate is calculated by ranking persons by equivalised income from smallest to largest and then extracting the median or middle value. Anyone with an equivalised income of less than 60% of the median is considered at risk of poverty at a 60% level.

Deprivation rate

Households that are excluded and marginalised from consuming goods and services which are considered the norm for other people in society, due to an inability to afford them, are considered to be deprived. The identification of the marginalised or deprived is currently achieved on the basis of a set of eleven basic deprivation indicators:

1. Without heating at some stage in the last year

2. Unable to afford a morning, afternoon, or evening out in last fortnight

3. Unable to afford two pairs of properly fitting shoes in good condition that are suitable for daily activities

4. Unable to afford a roast once a week

5. Unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish, or vegetarian equivalent every second day

6. Unable to afford new (not second-hand) clothes

7. Unable to afford a warm waterproof coat

8. Unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm

9. Unable to afford to replace any worn out furniture

10. Unable to afford to have family or friends for a drink or a meal once a month

11. Unable to afford to buy presents for family or friends at least once a year 

Individuals who experience two or more of the eleven listed items are considered to be experiencing enforced deprivation. This is the basis for calculating the deprivation rate.

Consistent poverty

The consistent poverty measure looks at those persons who are defined as being at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation (experiencing two or more types of deprivation).

An individual is defined as being in ‘consistent poverty’ if they are:

• Identified as being at risk of poverty and
• Living in a household deprived of two or more of the eleven basic deprivation items listed above 

Equivalence scales

Equivalence scales are used to calculate the equivalised household size in a household. Although there are numerous scales, we focus on the national scale in this release. The national scale attributes a weight of 1 to the first adult, 0.66 to each subsequent adult (aged 14+ living in the household) and 0.33 to each child aged less than 14. The weights for each household are then summed to calculate the equivalised household size.

Equivalised disposable income

Disposable household income is divided by the equivalised household size to calculate equivalised disposable income for each person, which essentially is an approximate measure of how much of the income can be attributed to each member of the household. This equivalised income is then applied to each member of the household. The income reference period of SILC in year T is the calendar year T-1, i.e. for SILC 2023 the income relates to Jan-Dec 2022.

Acknowledgement

The Central Statistics Office wishes to thank the participating households for their co-operation in agreeing to take part in the SILC survey and for facilitating the collection of the relevant data.

For further information on this release:

E-mail ICW@CSO.ie 

Lianora Bermingham (+353) 21 453 5665