Minister Fitzgerald launches the first results from Growing Up in Ireland describing the lives of Irish 5 year olds

Frances Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has today welcomed the publication of the first set of key findings on Irish 5 year olds from the ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ longitudinal study of children which is commissioned and funded by her Department.

The findings published today focus on children’s transition to school, socio-emotional well-being, physical well-being, play and diet, and family circumstance.

Responding to the findings Minister Fitzgerald said ‘this data provides a rich description of life at 5 years, and supports our understanding of the first 5 years of life, a time marked by a number of significant developmental milestones’.

The Minister welcomed the findings that the vast majority of Irish 5 year olds experience a positive transition to school, have positive relationships with their parents and are in good health.

Noting a continued increase in the percentage of families reporting difficulties making ends meet, the Minister states “The difficulty being experienced by many families over recent years is clearly evident; the Government has rightly prioritised the continued support of children and families through a range of initiatives’

On this issue, this Minister noted the importance of a number of departmental initiatives aimed at the early years; the commitment to the universal pre-school year and the associated quality agenda, the development of Ireland’s first-ever National Early Years Strategy and the introduction of the new Area based approach to Child Poverty.

The latest findings from the Growing Up in Ireland show that:

– The majority of parents reported that their children had adjusted well to school, with girls more positive about school than boys.

– One in four parents who availed of the free preschool year said they would not have been able to send their child to preschool had it not been for the scheme. This rose to more than one in three among more disadvantaged families.

– Overall, parents tended to report high levels of positivity and low levels of conflict with their five-year-old.

– Economic strain in the household was associated with a greater risk of higher levels of such conflict.

– An association was identified between a child’s behavioural difficulties and long periods of ‘screen-time’ [television, video games or on the internet].

– Children from less advantaged homes generally participated more in unstructured play, while those from more advantaged homes were more likely to attend a sports club or sorts group on a regular basis.

– Higher maternal levels of educational achievement and higher household income were associated with less screen time spent by the child.

– There was a clear relationship between the amount of screen time and the BMI status of the 5 year olds.

– One in four of the children at 3 years of age was overweight or obese, but this dropped to one in five for the same group at aged 5.

Growing Up in Ireland is the first national longitudinal study of children in Ireland. Over the course of 2006-2014, the study has monitored the development of almost 20,000 children, an infant cohort of 11,100 9-month olds and a child cohort of 8,570 9-year olds. The aim of Growing Up in Ireland is ‘to study the factors, which contribute to or undermine the well-being of children in contemporary Irish families, and, through this, contribute to the setting of effective and responsive policies relating to children and to the design of services for children and their families’. Two waves of data collection have been completed for both the infant cohort (at age 9 months and then 3 years) and the child cohort (at age 9 years and then 13 years) and reports of the findings have been published. A third wave of data collection of the infant cohort (at age 5 years) is currently being undertaken and will complete Phase 1 of the Study.

Minister Fitzgerald stated “the recent Government decision extending the duration of the study until 2019 will allow for continued tracking of critical transition points in children and young people’s lives including providing further insight into key issues relating to children, young people and their family circumstances”.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) focuses on harmonising policy issues that affect children in areas such as early childhood care and education, youth justice, child welfare and protection, children and young people’s participation in decision-making, research on children and young people, youth work and cross cutting initiatives for children and young people. To that end, Growing Up in Ireland makes an important and valuable contribution.