30 April 2024

Living Conditions Survey (LCS)
Module on intergenerational transmission of poverty

Year 2023

Main results

  • 9.2% of adults who lived in households with a bad or very bad financial situation when they were adolescents, had high incomes in 2023.
  • 53.1% of adults who had a good or very good economic situation in adolescence had higher education in 2023, compared to 23.3% of those who had a bad or very bad economic situation.
  • 36.2% of adults whose parents had a level of education of lower secondary education or less, had higher education in 2023.

Perception of financial situation as an adolescent

9.7% of adults between 25 and 59 years old lived in households with a bad or very bad financial situation when they were adolescents. This percentage has diminished compared to the 2019 survey (10.1%). In turn, 43.5% lived in households with a good or very good financial situation; this percentage is higher than the 32.4% of 2019.

Adults from 25 to 59 years by household financial situation when person was around 14 years old. Years 2019 and 2023.

Percentages

Current income level based on financial situation as an adolescent

24.6% of adults who lived in households with a bad or very bad financial situation as adolescents had low incomes in 2023, while the 9.2% had high incomes. This difference in percentages is lower than that obtained in the 2019 survey (34.2% with low incomes and 9.4% with high incomes).

In turn, 16.9% of adults that lived in households with a good or very good financial situation had low incomes last year, while 24.3% had high incomes. This difference in percentages is lower than that obtained in 2019 (13.2% with low incomes and 30.0% with high incomes).

Adults from 25 to 59 years by financial situation when person was around 14 years old. Years 2019 and 2023

Percentages

Financial situation when person was around 14 years old bad or very bad

Financial situation when person was around 14 years old good or very good

Level of education achieved, by economic situation as an adolescent

Of the adults who lived in households with a bad or very bad economic situation as adolescents, 19.3% had high school or lower education in 2023 and 23.3% had higher education. On the 2019 survey, these percentages were 26.9% and 15.8%, respectively.

On the other hand, 5.2% of the adults who lived in households with a good or very good economic situation had a high school or lower education last year and 53.1% had higher education. This difference in percentages is lower than that in 2019 (3.0% with high school or lower education and 56.5% with higher education).

Adults from 25 to 59 years by financial situation when person was around 14 years old and educational level attained. Years 2019 and 2023

Percentages

Financial situation when person was around 14 years old bad or very bad

Financial situation when person was around 14 years old good or very good

By age groups, 25.4% of adults between 25 and 44 years old who lived in households with a bad or very bad financial situation when they were adolescents had higher education in 2023. This percentage reached 21.4% in adults between 45 and 59 years old.

In turn, 58.0% of adults between 25 and 44 years old who lived in households with a good or very good financial situation had higher education. This percentage reached 46.6% in adults between 45 and 59 years old.

Level of education reached by level of education of parents

40.1% of adults between 25 and 59 years old whose parents had a level of education of lower secondary education or less, had reached this same level of education in 2023. In turn, 36.2% had higher education.

On the other hand, 5.9% of adults between 25 and 59 years old whose parents had higher education had reached last year a level of lower secondary education or less, and a 77.4%, higher education.

Reviews and data updates

The data published today are final. All the results are available on INEBase.

Methodological note

The Living Conditions Survey (LCS) is an annual statistical operation aimed at households which is conducted in all European Union countries. It¿s a harmonised statistic supported by Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019 which establishes a common framework for European statistics related to people and households, based on individual data collected from samples.

The Living Conditions Survey (LCS) includes various modules each year, harmonised at European level, to study in depth different aspects of the life of households. The 2023 edition included a module about the intergenerational transmission of poverty.

The 2023 LCS was carried out by the National Statistics Institute (INE) in collaboration with the Statistical Institute of Cataluña (IDESCAT) within the scope of the autonomous community.

Type of survey:
Annual.
Collection period:
February to May 2023.
Sample size:
The effective sample is made up of about 67,000 people.
Type of sample:
Panel survey in which the persons interviewed collaborate for four consecutive years. It¿s a stratified two-stage sampling process. The first stage units are the census tracts and the second stage units are the inhabited family dwellings.
Collection method:
Multichannel, offering the household the possibility of responding online (CAWI), telephone interview or face-to-face.

More information on the methodology and the standardised methodological report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at INE and the Code of Best Practices.

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