Vast majority of adults living with a parent wish to move out

Of those living alone, 30% said they are often under financial pressure, while 17% said they feel lonely all or most of the time. Picture: Denis Minihane

Loneliness and financial worries are affecting single people living on their own, while adult children living with parents would overwhelmingly like to be able to move out, new data has shown.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) Life at Home 2021 series this week focuses on renters, lone parents, and adults living alone or with a parent. 

Of those living alone, 30% said they are often under financial pressure, while 17% said they feel lonely all or most of the time. 

A third said they would prefer to live with others, while almost two in three of those who believe that living alone has a negative effect on their mental health or wellbeing would prefer to live with others.

Solo renters under financial pressure

People living alone in rented accommodation were more likely to report feeling lonely all or most of the time, the series found.

Almost half of people 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%, the CSO said.

Some 41% of lone parents said they feel lonely all or most of the time, much higher than the 17% rate reported by those who live alone.

Overall, almost seven in 10 lone parents said they are often under financial pressure. The comparable rate for respondents living alone is three in 10, the CSO said.

Senior statistician, Gerry Reilly, said: "Overall, almost one in two (48%) lone parents said they often experience judgmental attitudes or exclusion as a lone parent.  

"Lone parents in full-time employment and those who own their own dwelling were less likely to ‘often experience judgmental attitudes or exclusion as a lone parent’ when compared with lone parents not in full-time employment and those living in rented accommodation.”

Most sharers expect they'll never own a home

When it comes to people renting a home they share with unrelated people, 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 71% said they enjoy the company of others in the shared accommodation, more than half feel they don’t have enough privacy, the series found.

Despite having good relationships with parents, most adult children living with them would like to be able to move out.

Some 57% who live with a parent said they enjoy living with them. In comparison, 87% of parents who have an adult child living with them said they enjoy it.

Many family relationships improved during pandemic

However, almost nine in 10 who are living with a parent said they would prefer to live apart, while half of parents who live with an adult child would prefer if they lived apart.

The Covid-19 pandemic has helped improve relationships between parents and children for the most part, the series found.

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. 

However, that changes when a child is living with one parent, with more saying it has disimproved.