Number of friends child has

The topic of the 3-year-olds’ friends came up in the consultation with children

themselves, and was mentioned in the consultations with the advisory panel on

family context. It also features as a topic in one of the comparable international

studies. Given the cross-cutting nature of this topic in the consultations, it is

recommended that one or two questions be asked of the primary caregiver. This

could be the questions on ‘number of friends’ and ‘number of close friends’, similar to

those asked at older waves of Growing Up in Ireland, as a starting point for future

longitudinal consistency. As it is expected that a substantial portion of 3-year-olds

will be participating in some sort of regular care in a group-setting at the time of

interview in 2027 – due in part to increases in funding - questions on their friends

could be very timely.

Recommendation for Cohort 24 at age 3:

•Ask two questions on the number of friends, and the number of ‘close’ friends, the 3-year-old has to the primary caregiver main questionnaire.

Presence and type of family pets