Growing Up in Ireland

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.

The study follows 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 24-25 years old and those of Cohort ’08 are around 14 years old.

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Latest GUI News:

  • The draft programme for the Growing Up in Ireland Annual conference on Nov 8th is now available. Registration is also open. Please see the conference page for further details.
  • Our latest Key Findings Report on the Lives of 13-Year-Olds launched 10.7.23. You can read it here
  • Check out our new presentation on the value and impact of the Growing Up in Ireland study here
  • Scoping Review to Inform the Development of a Potential New Birth Cohort for Growing Up in Ireland published 26th May, see more here.
  • We’ve started a new ‘spotlight’ series to feature more of the work done with GUI data by external researchers. See more here.

Where are we now:

  • On September 20 2023, the Growing Up in Ireland team carried out consultations with the policy and research/practice advisory group on the upcoming survey of 17 year-olds in 2025.
  • Data collection with Cohort ’98 at age 25 is in progress. Participants can find further information here.
  • Data collection for Cohort ’08 13 was completed in June 2022. The RMF dataset is now open to applications via the CSO.
  • Key findings from the special online ‘Covid-19’ survey (Dec 2020) were released on March 26th. The data have been archived (Oct 2021) and are open to applications.
  • Please contact the GUI team by email only via growingup@equality.gov.ie