Organisation information
Growing Up In Ireland
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
Growing Up in Ireland, the national longitudinal study of children established in 2006, represents a very significant investment by the State in high quality research and data on the lives of children, young people and their families. Growing Up in Ireland is funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), and managed by DCEDIY in association with the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Data for the study is collected under the Statistics Act (1993).
Growing Up in Ireland has been tracking the lives and development of almost 20,000 children across two nationally representative cohorts recruited into the study - Cohort ’98 (the child cohort) born in 1998 and Cohort ’08 (the infant cohort) born in 2008. The development of a new infant cohort, Cohort ’24 is well underway. This new cohort will see Growing Up in Ireland track the lives of a new generation of Irish children – babies who are yet to be born and who will be 9 months old in 2024. This will ensure Ireland has access to robust national data on what it is like to grow up in contemporary, post-pandemic Ireland.
So far, data has been collected from Cohort ’98 at the ages of 9 years, 13 years, 17 years and 20 years. Data collection for this cohort at age 25 was conducted by the CSO in summer and autumn 2023.
Data has been collected from Cohort ’08 at the age of 9 months, 3 years, 5 years, 7/8 years, 9 years and 13 years. Data collection from this cohort at age 17 is scheduled to begin in 2024.
A special COVID-19 Growing Up in Ireland survey was carried out in December 2020, with results published in March 2021. This generated important findings about the impact of the pandemic on learning, employment, activities and well-being among parents of 12 year-olds, 12 year-olds themselves and young adults at 22 years old.
Key objectives of Growing Up in Ireland are to track the lives and development of participants over time, and the factors which help or hinder them along the way. By doing this we can develop policies and services for children and young people that this informed by evidence. The study collects data across three key areas: physical health; socio-emotional /behavioural wellbeing; and education. At age 17 a fourth domain, civic and economic participation, is added. Growing Up in Ireland collects data from the study children and parents/guardians on these issues, as well as family level demographic data and information from children’s schools.
An overview of the impact to date of Growing up In Ireland can be found here
After each wave of data collection, i.e. after each survey of the Growing Up in Ireland participants, a series of Key Findings, i.e., short briefing papers that highlight headline findings, are published after each wave of data collection. These key findings are followed by a detailed report, which describes findings more fully across domains and provides longitudinal insights into changes in outcomes and experiences over time.
Growing Up in Ireland also publishes a range of technical and methodological reports and literature reviews.
The Growing Up in Ireland Study Team has published more than 90 reports. In addition, Growing Up in Ireland data files from every wave of data collection are anonymised, archived and made available for bona fide research purposes. This maximises the use of the study data and means Growing Up in Ireland has now become an extremely important national data and research resource. DCEDIY has used Growing Up in Ireland data extensively to inform the development of its policies and strategies including First Five, Ireland’s first ever cross-Departmental strategy to support babies, young children and their families. Growing Up in Ireland data has also been used by a wide range of other Government Departments and public bodies commissioning research to support policy development.
All these publications are available to download from the Growing Up in Ireland’s dedicated website and can be accessed here.
Anonymised data from each wave are archived by the Study Team and made available for other researchers to use in the form of the Anonymised Microdata Files (AMF) and Researcher Microdata Files (RMF). Growing Up in Ireland is therefore an important national research and data resource.
To promote the use of Growing Up in Ireland, we run data workshops for those interested in using GUI data, and an annual GUI conference where researchers can present work based on GUI data. This year’s annual research conference will take place on the 8 November 2023, see here for further details.
The Anonymised Microdata File (AMF) includes a basic set of variables and is lodged with the Irish Social Science Data Archive (ISSDA) at University College Dublin. Applications to use these data files are made to ISSDA.
The Researcher Microdata File (RMF) is a more detailed file, which means access to the file is more strictly regulated. This includes the obligation that any researcher wishing to use RMF data must first register as an Officer of Statistics. For a full set of terms and conditions associated with an RMF application, see here.
Researchers must apply to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for access; forms are available to download from the CSO website here.
The Research and Evaluation Unit has analysed the use of GUI data files from 2010 to 2019. For a copy of the report see here. This report documents the extent to which researchers have accessed available Growing Up in Ireland datasets since 2010. It furthermore highlights the range of institutions using the datasets and key research themes investigated. The report also provides practical advice on how researchers and policy makers can access the microdata files available from the study. The report is based on summary data made available to the DCEDIY for statistical purposes on the use of the Growing Up in Ireland Research Microdata Files (RMF) and Anonymised Microdata Files (AMF).
The Research and Evaluation Unit has also produced ‘A Guidance Note on Using Growing Up in Ireland Data’. This report outlines the background to Growing Up in Ireland, the value of longitudinal data, the types of data collected by the study and the range of research reports that have been published since it was established. The report also provides examples of how Growing Up in Ireland data has been used by DCEDIY and across the public sector – and describes how to access Growing Up in Ireland microdata files which are archived and made available for research purposes. For a copy of the report see here.
For further information on the GUI, including details of upcoming data workshops and annual conferences see the GUI’s website here.