Experiences of young adults currently living with their parents.

Lack of housing, high cost of living, and better opportunities overseas are prompting twenty-somethings to leave Ireland, according to our Home Truths Panel.

Following on from our Home Truths paper, Single adults living with their parents, we decided to delve some more into the phenomenon of young adults having to live at home with parents, and to explore how this is affecting their outlook. We formed a panel of adults in their twenties, all in full-time employment and living at home with their parents, to hear their views.

The topic of emigration came up early and often in the discussion with each participant referring to the many friends who have emigrated. As one said: “A lot of my friends now have emigrated. I’ve like two people left in my friend group.”

The dominance of the theme of emigration is reflected in CSO figures which estimate that in the year to April 2023, 64,000 people emigrated from Ireland. Just over half were non-Irish citizens, indicating they may have been returning home, while 30,500 were Irish citizens. CSO data also shows the number of people emigrating has increased steadily over the last three years.

The current generation of twenty-somethings are more likely than any other to have a third level education, employment rates are high, and yet, as we’ve explored previously, an increasing proportion are stuck living at home with parents, unable to find or afford independent accommodation, struggling to launch their lives.

And according to our Home Truths panel, it is this ‘lack of freedom’ (a sentiment that came up repeatedly during the discussion) that is driving people to emigrate.

As one participant put it: “I can understand why so many young people are moving away because they don’t want to be living there, in their twenties, stuck at home with their parents. Because there is a lack of freedom there entirely. It is a very difficult situation.”

According to our panel, this lack of freedom is rooted in low supply of housing and high cost of living, particularly high rents and bills. Another CSO report, Our Lives, Our Money, published in December 2022, found 57% of 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed would consider moving abroad to lower their cost of living. The figure is similarly high among those in rental accommodation with 43% considering emigration to lower their cost of living.

Running parallel to lack of freedom, our Home Truths panel panel identify the search for a more fulfilling life experience – compared to what they describe as the experience in Ireland of working solely to pay rent and bills or having to live with parents – as the motivation for emigration.

One participant explained: “A lot of my friends as well have emigrated to Australia and England as well because they can’t afford the rent, or they don’t want to spend all their money on rent. Current cost of living is just crazy at the moment. It’s probably similar enough to Canada I’d say but just the lifestyle is probably better over there. In Australia as well, there’s just better opportunities over there at the moment.”

This lifestyle and opportunities factor is also highlighted in an analysis by Maynooth University of 48 blogs written by Irish people overseas. Better employment and educational opportunities overseas were noted. So too was the chance of home ownership, along with better healthcare, childcare and public transport. Overall, the high cost-of-living in Ireland as a driver to leave Irish shores was repeatedly mentioned.

But, as highlighted by one of our Home Truths panel participants, emigration is not an easy choice; it has become part of the ‘predicament’ caused by the lack of housing: “You have a whole generation now of young people that are in that predicament where you either stay and you’re lucky enough to rent somewhere and a lot of your money is going to it so that brings a whole lot of other circumstances that are difficult, or else kinda emigrate and that comes with a lot of difficulties as well with leaving your family behind and leaving your home country.”