[IE] Growing Up in Ireland (GUI)

Full name of the series in original language

Growing Up in Ireland (GUI)

Abstract

Growing Up in Ireland – the National Longitudinal Study of Children – is a study of the factors that contribute to or undermine the wellbeing of children in 21st century Ireland. The project involves studying two main cohorts of children with a view to improving our understanding of their development across a range of domains.

The first cohort, the Child Cohort, focuses on nine-year-olds (born between 1st November 1997 and 31st October 1998); the second, the Infant Cohort, on infants of nine months of age (born between 1st December 2007 and 30th June 2008). The Child Cohort is based on a nationally representative sample of 8,500 nine-year-olds and the Infant Cohort on a national sample of 11,000 infants and their families.

The survey is longitudinal in nature, with both cohorts being interviewed over the course of the project. The older cohort and their parents/guardians are interviewed at nine and 13 years of age. The parents of the Infant Cohort are interviewed when their children are nine months old and subsequently when they are three and five years old. It collects data from multiple informants including parents (both resident and non-resident), teachers, principals and childcare providers. It includes both quantitative and qualitative studies.

Growing Up in Ireland is designed to describe and analyse what it means to be a child in Ireland today and to understand the factors associated with children's wellbeing, including those impacting on their physical health and development, their social/emotional/behavioural wellbeing, and their educational achievements/intellectual capacities. While children's current wellbeing is of immense importance, researchers are also cognisant of the future outcomes for the child as they develop into young adults. The longitudinal nature of the project facilitates the recording of current data with a view to using them to assist in understanding future outcomes. By gathering comprehensive data on childhood development, the study will provide a statistical basis for policy formation and applied research across all aspects of children's development – currently and into the future.

Geographic coverage

Ireland

Time method

Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based

Time period

2007 => 2014

Types of available microdata

Consistency type

Access mode

Update date

28/11/2024