Growing Up in Ireland is the national longitudinal study of children and young people, a joint project of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Since 2006, the study has provided Government with an evidence base to make informed policy decisions on a wide range of issues based on data from children and young people living in Ireland.
For over 15 years, the study has followed the progress of two groups of children: 8,000 9-year-olds (Cohort ’98) and 10,000 9-month-olds (Cohort ’08). The members of Cohort ’98 are now 25-26 years old and those of Cohort ’08 are around 16 years old. Recruitment of a third cohort, Cohort ’24, started in September 2024.
Latest GUI News:
- A new report, ‘Trends in disability prevalence among young people: Insights from the Growing Up in Ireland study’, will be launched by the ESRI on Tuesday, Oct 22nd.
Registration details here. - The Growing Up in Ireland Annual Research Conference took place at the Gibson Hotel, Dublin 2 on Oct 9th. Further info here.
- The conference included the launch of a new report by the ESRI, commisioned by DCEDIY, on lone parenthood. Read the report here.
- Cohort ’24 is a new infant cohort that was launched on Friday 20th September by Taoiseach Simon Harris, the CSO are inviting families with babies born this year to take part in this study.More information from the CSO available here.
- A pilot in preparation for Cohort ’08 at 17 is taking place this Autumn. Fieldwork for wave 1 of Cohort ’24 at 9 months started in October 2024.
- Data collection with Cohort ’98 at age 25 concluded in April. Key findings and data sets for researchers are expected early in 2025.
Where are we now:
- A Research Needs Report for Cohort ’08 at 17 was published in January 2024. Piloting for this wave is expected to take place later this year.
- Data collection with Cohort ’98 at age 25 concluded in April.
- Data collection for Cohort ’08 at 13 was completed in June 2022. The RMF dataset is now open to applications via the CSO.
- The pilot for Cohort ’24 at 9 months was completed by the CSO in December 2023.
- Main fieldwork is expected to start later this year.
- Please contact the GUI team by email only via growingup@equality.gov.ie
