The data, published as part of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) Cohort 98 study, tracks people born in 1998 from childhood into adulthood and examines how income and home life at the age of nine is linked to financial well-being and education at 25.
Among those whose household income was in the lowest quintile when they were nine, 45pc reported having difficulty making ends meet at age 25. That compares with only 24pc of those who were in the highest income group in childhood.
Difficulties with debt repayments were also more common among those from lower-income backgrounds.
Less than one in 10 respondents in the highest household income quintile at the age of nine had difficulty making loan repayments. In comparison, 17pc of those in the lowest income group at age nine had difficulty making loan repayments when they were age 25.
The income measure used in the study was equivalised household income, which takes account of the number of adults and children in a household, the CSO said.
The study also links childhood circumstances to education levels reached.
Just 37pc of those whose parents did not expect them to reach degree level had obtained a degree or equivalent qualification by 25.
For those whose parents expected them to get a degree, the figure was 69pc.
Home environment at age nine was also associated with later attainment.
Almost 70pc of respondents who did not have a television in their bedroom had a degree at 25, compared with 45pc of those who did.
Access to books and reading facilities showed a similar pattern. More than six in 10, or 63pc, whose parents used a public library for them when they were nine, had a degree by 25, compared with 53pc of those who did not.
The release forms part of the CSO’s Frontier Series and relates to 25-year-olds living in Ireland in 2023/24 who were also resident in the State at age nine in 2007/08.
Growing Up in Ireland is a national longitudinal study carried out by the CSO in collaboration with the Department for Children, Disability and Equality.
It also includes children born in 2008 and 2024, allowing for future comparisons across generations, the CSO said.
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