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.

For over 17 years, the study has followed the progress of two groups of children: starting with over 8,000 9-year-olds (Cohort ’98) and 10,000 9-month-olds (Cohort ’08). The members of Cohort ’98 were aged 25 at their last wave of data collection (currently 26 years old), and those of Cohort ’08 will be aged 17/18 in their next wavwe of data collection (currently 16 years old). Recruitment of a new group of 9-month-olds, Cohort ’24, started in September 2024.

If you have been invited to take part in the new Cohort ’24 Growing Up in Ireland survey, you can find more information on the CSO Growing Up in Ireland web page

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Latest GUI News:

  • Letters of invitation and text messages are being sent to families of 9-month-old babies to invite them to join GUI Cohort ’24. GUI survey interviewers are calling to these families to discuss their participation in this important new iteration of the survey.
  • 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.
  • 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:

  • The CSO are inviting families of 9-month-old babies in Ireland to take part in the new GUI Cohort ’24.
  • 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.
  • Main fieldwork is expected to start later this year.
  • Please contact the GUI team by email only via growingup@equality.gov.ie