Housing

The accommodation in which the child lives is important to their well-being given

how much time they spend there and because it is the location where so many of the

proximal interactions that promote development occur. The topic of housing

continues to be a ‘hot’ topic in the Irish context at the time of writing35 and is likely to

remain so by the time Cohort 24 are being interviewed at age 3 years. In the State of

the Nation’s Children 2024 report, data provided by the Housing Agency indicated

there were nearly 21,000 households with children identified as being in need of

social housing in 2023 (DCEDIY, 2024b p. 145).

The subtopics under the broader heading of ‘housing’ includes the physical

characteristics of the home – such as size and quality – and ‘non-physical’

characteristics such as the nature of the occupancy and how much it costs. There

were more, and updated, questions on housing on the survey for Cohort 24 at 9

months than Cohort 08 at 3 so the former is recommended as the basis for Cohort 24

at 3. It should be sufficient to collect information on housing just from the primary

caregiver.

Specifically on physical characteristics, there were previous questions on size

(number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and sense of adequate space), housing quality

35 For example, the BBC published an article on 5th February 2025 with the headline, “Housing ‘number one issue’ for government, says Irish PM”: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cedne54nw37o

(e.g. damp, noise), type of energy used, and access to an outside space for the child

to play. These characteristics are important for the child’s health and physical

development, and overall comfort in the home, and should be continued. Previous

questions on aspects such as nature of occupancy/tenure, costs and burden thereof

are important for housing security and financial strain on the family. There was a new

pair of questions for Cohort 24 at 9 months on whether the family expects to

continue living in their present home, and if not, why. It would be useful to collect

this information again at age 3, to judge both the family’s feelings towards the

accommodation and the likelihood that they will have to be traced to a new address

by the time of the subsequent wave.

Recommendations for Cohort 24 at 3 years:

•Repeat the questions on housing as used with Cohort 24 at 9 months

•Link to administrative data to capture if the household is in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) and other grants and supports for homeowners, in efforts to supplement what is known about the other characteristics of housing

Neighbourhood