A report published today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has found that those who experience financial difficulties as adults often come from households where they experienced poverty as teenagers.
The EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) found that experience of financial difficulties in the teenage years also had an impact on consistent poverty rates in adulthood.
It said people who experienced financial difficulty "most of the time or often" as teenagers were four times more likely to be in consistent poverty than those who "never" experienced financial difficulties in their teen years.
Living arrangements as a teenager can also affect poverty rates in adulthood.
Almost a quarter (23.7 per cent) of persons aged 25-65 who did not live with both parents as a teenager were at risk of poverty, compared to 15.3 per cent of those who lived with both parents.
The survey also found that household size during teenage years also has an impact on the experience of poverty in adulthood.
Almost 23 per cent of persons aged 25-65 who lived with 7 or more siblings as a teenager were at risk of poverty, compared to 14.6 per cent of those who lived with less than 3 siblings.
Persons from larger households also had a higher consistent poverty rate of 8.4 per cent, compared to 5.8 per cent for persons who lived with less than 3 siblings.
