Interactions with a non-resident parent

In previous waves and cohorts of Growing Up in Ireland, circa 15% of study children

had a biological parent living elsewhere; that is, a ‘non-resident’ parent. This group

combines parents who used to live with the child and those who have never done so.

As discussed elsewhere in this report, collecting information directly from the non-

resident parent has proved challenging in earlier waves of Growing Up in Ireland (in

common with other similar studies). Therefore, it is important that the interview with

the resident primary caregiver collects at least some basic information about the non-

resident parent, albeit with the caveat that such information will be from one

perspective only. This information should continue to be collected as part of the self-

complete module as it may be sensitive for the respondent.

The instruments for Cohort 24 at 9 months and Cohort 08 at 3 collected similar

information on interactions with the non-resident parent. However, as longitudinal

consistency in individual families is more important than cross-cohort comparison for

this topic, it is recommended that the Cohort 24 at 9 months items be used as the

basis for Cohort 24 at 3 years. The initial questions should collect some basic

information on the status of the primary caregiver’s relationship with the non-

resident parent, both currently and when the child was born. If the parents have

previously been married or lived together, the survey should also note the age of the

child when they split up.

Details on any shared parenting arrangement should be collected including the time-

split and how the arrangement was negotiated (e.g. through a court). In contrast to

Cohort 08 at 3, this section on the questionnaire for Cohort 24 at 9 months included

some more qualitative questions on the primary caregiver’s perception as to how well

this arrangement was working. It would be useful to assess responses to these new

questions from the Cohort 24 at 9 months’ data collection but it is assumed, at time

of writing while fieldwork is still underway at 9 months, that continuing these

questions at age 3 would be worthwhile.

The frequency of contact between the non-resident parent and the child is key

information. Also noting how far away the non-resident parent lives helps to put the

frequency of contact in context. Although Cohort 24 at 9 months only asked about

face-to-face contact with the child, because of their age, questions on virtual/remote

contact – such as by phone or video call - with the non-resident parent should be

added for age 3 (as used with older waves of Growing Up in Ireland cohorts).

The nature of any financial support received from the non-resident parent is also of

obvious interest. Previous research, including with Growing Up in Ireland data, has

demonstrated that one-parent families are at particularly high risk of poverty (e.g.

Russell & Maitre, 2024). Although not collected for either Cohort 24 at 9 months or

Cohort 08 at 3 years, consideration should be given to adding a question on the

monetary value of the support received from the non-resident parent. Furthermore,

there was a significant legislative change in 2024 whereby money received as child

maintenance payments will now be disregarded from the means test for social

welfare payments (Department of Social Protection, 2024). The instrument for

Cohort 24 at 9 months included, for the first time, a question on whether the resident

primary caregiver also makes a financial contribution for the child while they are

staying with the other parent. This is particularly relevant if there is a shared

parenting arrangement in place, but the responses to this question at 9 months may

guide a decision on whether to continue it for 3 years.

Finally, this section should collect some information on the resident primary

caregiver’s perception of the emotional quality of their current relationship with the

non-resident parent. This adds contextual information for the emotional tone of the

relationship between the child’s biological parents. For Cohort 24 at 9 months, there

were just two questions in this sub-topic: how often the primary caregiver spoke to

the non-resident parent about the child, and whether they described their own

relationship with that person as positive or negative.

Recommendations for Cohort 24 at 3 years:

•Repeat questions from the resident primary caregiver as used with Cohort 24 at 9 months

•Add a question on the frequency of remote/virtual contact, as distinct from face-to-face contact, between the child and the non-resident parent

•Consider adding a question on the monetary value of the financial support received from the non-resident parent

Parental screen time