Introduction:
Outcomes associated with young adult employment status are mixed. The prevalence of smoking and e-cigarette use in this age group is high, and access to disposable income has been linked to increased youth smoking. We examine links between smoking and e-cigarette use and a) being in current paid employment aged 20 years; b) being or having ever been in regular full-time paid employment vs. temporary/part-time/none); and c) links between current paid employment status, social class, and higher education participation.

Methods:
We use data from 5,188 20-year-olds from Wave 4 of the longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland study, Cohort ’98. Analyses were performed using SPSS v27.

Results:
31.4% (n=1,629) of 20-year-olds report being in current paid employment, and 44.6% (n=1,275) report being/having ever been in regular full-time vs other types of employment. Nearly three-quarters report ever-smoking, and almost half e-cigarette ever-use. More than a third report current smoking, and more than one in eight current e-cigarette use and current dual use. 20-year-olds in paid employment and those who are/have been in regular full-time employment are significantly more likely to be ever-smokers, current smokers, ever e-cigarette users, current e-cigarette users, and dual users. 20-year-olds in paid employment are also significantly less likely to be from professional/managerial backgrounds (24% vs. 77%), or higher education (14% vs. 86%).

Conclusions:
Being in paid employment or being/having been in regular full-time employment (vs part-time/temporary) are risk factors for smoking and e-cigarette use in 20-year-olds. Paid employment is associated with lower social class and lower participation in higher education. Higher education is associated with enhanced occupational and life outcomes and progression to higher education in Ireland is both high and classed. Young adults working full-time lose out on educational and occupational benefits and require targeted smoking and e-cigarette health education and cessation services.