Survey shows rise in Irish ‘kidults’: ThePost.ie


TCH Archives > Sunday Business Post > 2007/03/25 > Survey shows rise in Irish ‘kidults’

Survey shows rise in Irish ‘kidults’
Sunday, March 25, 2007 - By Catherine O’Mahony
A lifestyle report from the research company confirmed that Irish people were marrying later, waiting longer to have children and living with their parents longer.

That means young adults have more money to spend and more time in which to spend it - and they like to spend their cash on holidays, cars and health clubs.

According to Mintel, in 2005, the average age for marriage in Ireland rose to 32.6 (compared with 30.7 in 2000), while the average age at which women have their first child was 30.

‘‘Mortgages drastically cut the available disposable income available to adults, with a large knock-on effect on their leisure and social lives,” said the survey.

‘‘Children, while also an expense, require significant investments in time. Marriages in their own right don’t necessarily result in a loss of either time or money but as the beginning of mortgage terms and the arrival of children often closely follow marriage, time and money become particularly valuable commodities for married adults.”

However, Irish 15 to 24year-olds - the youngest set of kidults - are low on responsibility and often rich in time and money.

The Mintel survey found 37 per cent of people in this age group placed foreign holidays as a top spending priority. Next came buying a second-hand car, which was a top priority for 23 per cent.

A further 21 per cent prioritised saving, while 15 per cent prioritised joining a health club. Only ten per cent said they planned to buy a new house or flat.

As a further consequence of the kidult phenomenon, Mintel noted that the so-called ‘‘grey consumer’’ was more likely than before to have parental responsibilities, as well as being considerably more likely to find themselves single.

More generally, a key concern for many of the adults surveyed was children’s exposure to media and advertising. The issue was cited as a current worry by 14 per cent of adults in Northern Ireland and nine per cent in the Republic. When adjusted for parental status, this increased to 22 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

Mintel is planning a special survey on marketing to children later this year.