Household composition

A key component of any household survey is the ‘household grid’ which collects basic

information on the age, gender, economic status, and relationship to the head of

household for everyone living there. For Growing Up in Ireland, there is an additional

question on how each person is related to the study child. In circumstances where

there is more than one family sharing the accommodation, defining who forms part of

the child’s household - and who does not - can occasionally be complicated.

Now that Cohort 24 will be completing the second wave of the survey, it will be

important to capture any changes to the household composition. In previous waves,

this has been done on a relatively efficient basis by ‘forward feeding’ the details

recorded at the last interview and asking for confirmation or any updates. New

people in the household, or anyone mistakenly omitted previously, will need to have

their full details added. The number of children in the household can have

implications for the family’s socioeconomic status: the 2024 State of the Nation’s

Children report indicated that in 2023, using EU SILC data, one-parent, one-child

households and households with 2 adults and 3+ kids had the highest rates of

consistent poverty at household level at 7% each, although both groups showed a

substantial decline from 2022 (DCEDIY, 2024b p. 144).

One sub-topic that was collected with Cohort 08 at 3 but may not have been

collected with Cohort 24 at 9 months, are basic details on any full, step or half

siblings of the study child living outside the household. This information is most

relevant to establishing the correct birth order of the study child, such as where the

eldest sibling has already moved out and is not included on the grid. It is also relevant

to whether the parents have any other dependants who are not recorded on the

household grid, and if the study child is part of a wider ‘blended’ family that may not

be apparent from the household grid alone. For example, one of the child’s resident

parents may have children from a previous relationship living elsewhere.

All of the above information could be collected from the primary caregiver as part of

the main interview. For certain household members who have left since the previous

wave, it would be useful to know the reason for leaving. On older waves of Growing

Up in Ireland, this information was linked from the main grid to the self-complete

‘sensitive’ questionnaire where the primary caregiver was asked why someone had

left (e.g. deceased, moved out to own household etc). However, as this specific

information is most relevant to when one of the child’s parents has left the

household, it could be reduced to just the reason for leaving in respect of a child’s

parent. It should, however, remain on the self-complete module as it is likely to be

sensitive.

Recommendations for Cohort 24 at 3 years:

•Repeat the questions on household composition, as used with Cohort 24 at 9 months, but on a ‘forward-feed’ basis for most families

•Add the questions on siblings outside the household, and reason for leaving (parent only), from Cohort 08 at age 3

Housing