Presence and type of family pets

Questions on family pets have been previously asked at older waves of Growing Up

in Ireland but a question at age 3 would be new. Animals and pets emerged as a

theme in the consultation with 3-year-olds. Although the basic nature of the

accompanying notations made it difficult to draw specific conclusions, the researcher

who examined the material noted that pets were sometimes included in the children’s

drawings of their “family”. We know from later waves in the older cohorts of

Growing Up in Ireland that pet ownership and engagement with pets is common:

two-thirds of 9-year-olds in Cohort 08 had a pet (dogs and cats typically) and most

said they helped look after that pet ‘often’ or ‘occasionally’ (McNamara et al., 2021).

Having a family pet is also one of the indicators used by the State of the Nation’s

Children report (DCEDIY, 2024b). In the most recent report, using HBSC data, 76%

of children aged 10-17 had a pet in 2022 (p.54) but with noticeably lower rates in the

Dublin region (62%).

The presence of pets in the household may also be of interest to health researchers

(e.g., in relation to respiratory or allergy issues), in which case specifying the type of

pet(s) could be important.

Recommendation for Cohort 24 at age 3

•Include a couple of questions on the number and type of pets that live with the 3-year-old on the primary caregiver main questionnaire. Consideration could also be given to a single question in the section on the child’s play (see chapter 3) on whether they play with a pet (even if not one belonging to their household but possibly present in a childminder’s or grandparent’s home).

Chapter 5: Family Context