Children’s study will deal with family structure

 

A new longitudinal study of the lives of children in Ireland will include questions about family structure allowing Irish researchers to investigate for the first time and in a meaningful way the effects of family structure on children.

The study will involve 18,000 children including a cohort of 10,000 nine month olds and 8,000 nine year olds.

The infants will be investigated now, and again at the age of three. The nine year olds will be investigated now and at the age of 13.

Called ‘Growing Up in Ireland’, the study is being funded by the State at a cost of €24 million and is to be conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Children’s Research Centre of Trinity College Dublin.

The stated purposes of the study are to:

* tell us how children develop over time.

* help us find out what factors affect a children’s development.

* look at what makes a happy and healthy childhood and what might lead to a less happy childhood.

* help us to discover what children think of their own lives and learn what it means to be a child in Ireland today.

* assist in policy formation and the provision of services for children and their families.

Commenting on the study, Professor Sheila Greene, Director of the Children’s Research Centre, said: “The importance of ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ cannot be overstated in terms of its potential to increase our understanding of children’s lives and to contribute to making real and lasting changes in the lives of children and families in Ireland.”

One major purpose of the study will be to try and draw the connection between poverty and social disadvantage, however, the communications officer for ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ has confirmed that questions on the family will be included in the study as well.