Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) is the national longitudinal study of children and young people.
This important survey gathers data on the issues facing children and young people today.
Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) is the national longitudinal study of children that was established by the Irish Government in 2006. It is funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). The survey was first carried out by researchers led by Trinity College Dublin and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). Since 2023, the survey has been managed and overseen by DCEDIY and the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
GUI was established to provide evidence for the creation of effective and responsive policies and services for all children and families in Ireland. We study the lives of children and young people in Ireland, to understand the factors that help or hinder development, and importantly, get children’s and young person’s views and opinions on their lives as they grow up.
The CSO is Ireland’s national statistics office, and our purpose is to impartially gather, analyse, and publish statistics and insights about Ireland, our people, our society, and our economy. We gather and collect data under the Statistics Act, 1993 to provide official statistics that are independently produced and verified and can be used to inform decision making across all aspects of our society. The CSO conducts household and business surveys throughout the year, as well as the census, and no individual, household, or enterprise can be identified from the data we publish.
The CSO has been trusted for 75 years and counting to provide accurate and verifiable statistics about Irish life and society. Protecting data confidentiality is at the heart of everything we do. You can learn more about why you trust the CSO on the section of our website.
As part of GUI, we are interviewing the same group of young people every few years to see how they are developing as they grow older. We first interviewed families who were taking part in the survey when their baby was nine months old. We contacted the same families when the children taking part were three, five, seven/eight, nine, and 13 years old. Now that these young people are in their late teens, we would like to interview them again.
It is important that everyone who took part in previous GUI surveys continues to take part to allow us to understand how young people develop as they grow older. Even if you missed some of the other visits when you were younger, you can rejoin the study now.
Those born in 2008/2009 are now turning 17/18. This is an important time in their lives where many changes occur as they transition from childhood into adulthood. The data collected in this study will help us to understand how young people are growing up in Ireland today.
The facts we get directly from you through GUI provide essential data on child development and help policy makers when making decisions that impact the lives of children and young people in Ireland. Some policy decisions that GUI data has helped inform include medical card usage and population health planning (Department of Health), children’s use of mobile phones and learning (Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications) and strategic planning for children’s and young person’s cultural participation (Arts Council).
Confidentiality is a core value of the CSO. All CSO staff are designated as Officers of Statistics under Section 20(a) of the Statistics Act, 1993. This means every staff member is legally bound to uphold the confidentiality of the data they have access to. The CSO does not share any identifiable personal data with any third party. Your data and confidentiality are protected by law. In limited cases, data is shared with approved researchers under strict conditions in a way where identities are protected. We only use your data for statistical purposes. That means we remove all identifying information such as names and your specific address.
As well as the strict legal protections in the Statistics Act, 1993, the CSO must ensure compliance with the data protection requirements in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act, 2018. The for the survey can be accessed on our website.
The CSO will publish the results on our website and on our social media channels. We will use percentages and trends to tell the story behind the GUI survey.
Under the Statistics Act, 1993, CSO may grant access to non-aggregated data files under strict conditions, for scientific and statistical purposes only. Registered researchers can therefore access these files to undertake academic and policy-related research, which is then published at aggregate level.
GUI draws from many skills and areas of expertise to consider how children and young people develop as they grow older. In this round of the GUI survey, a wide range of questions on the experiences of the young person will be asked including topics like education, housing, pastimes, health, substance use, well-being, and relationships.
We send out letters to families to let them know that interviews for the next round of GUI will shortly commence. We may also send you a text message. Interviewers will call to your home to complete the interview with you at a time that suits. We provide details on our letters about how you can contact us if you have questions. We will ring you back if we are unable to answer the call outside of office hours if you leave a voicemail.
You may remember when you took part in Growing Up in Ireland previously, you provided your contact details so that we could keep in touch. Your phone number is being used for this purpose only and is not being shared with any third parties.
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Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) is the national longitudinal study of children and young people.
This important survey gathers data on the issues facing children and young people today.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.