Young adults in Ireland are almost twice as likely as people over 70 to experience three or more quality of life problems, according to a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute.
It also found members of the lowest socio-economic class are almost three times more likely to report multiple quality of life problems than professionals and managers.
The groundbreaking study, commissioned by the Department of Social Protection, is based on face-to-face interviews by the Central Statistics Office with almost 6,000 adults in 2013.
It focuses on 11 problems: income poverty, inability to afford basic goods and services, financial strain, poor health and housing, mental distress, crowded accommodation, neighbourhood problems, mistrust of democratic institutions, lack of social support and feeling unsafe in one's locality.
Overall, one-quarter of respondents reported problems with three or more of these, but the under-30s were 1.8 times more likely to do so than people over 70.
Younger adults were more likely to complain about financial strain, crowded accommodation and deprivation, while the over-70s emphasised poor health and lack of safety.
Manual and lower-skilled workers were 2.6 times more likely than professionals and managers to report three or more problems.
The self-employed and farmer classes bucked the trend reporting above average incidences of financial strain and income poverty.
Author of the report Dorothy Watson said: "Policies aiming to maximise quality of life should consider how numerous issues, including health and housing, are experienced differently across age groups, particularly among those who are most disadvantaged."
