Intergenerational socioeconomic and health information

Members of the research and policy advisory panels repeatedly mentioned exploring

intergenerational dynamics, particularly with regards to multigenerational social

mobility and other sociodemographic information. While questions relating to the

career and health of the study child’s grandparents were not asked of the primary

caregiver or secondary caregiver at Wave 1 when the child was aged 9 months, there

were questions within Cohort 98. Acquiring this information early on facilitates

tracking of social mobility between grandparent and parent, given that in Ireland

children who grow in poor financial circumstances are more likely to experience

economic difficulties in adulthood (Curristan et al., 2022), and begin to track it early

on in the child’s own life.

Although previous Growing Up in Ireland cohorts have been asked for this

information when the child was older, it may be pertinent to ask for it at an earlier

age to start investigating multigenerational social mobility and intergenerational

transmissions at the earliest age possible. The topic of grandparent employment also

featured in one of the other comparable longitudinal studies for children in the early

years. In previous Growing Up in Ireland surveys, the study child’s parent was asked

about the education and occupation of their parents and if their household had

difficulty making ends meet when they were a child. This information can be used to

explore how health and developmental outcomes are impacted by intergenerational

characteristics and analysing three generations of a family from the beginning of the

study child’s lifecourse. This domain is therefore important to include due to its

longitudinal value, rather than just cross-sectional significance, as the family

socioeconomic and health history will likely influence the study child’s development.

Collecting this information at age 3 will help inform how early different family

histories begin to manifest in outcomes across the cohort.

Recommendation for Cohort 24 at 3 years:

•Bring forward questions on the study child’s grandparents asked of the child’s parents from Cohort 98 at age 17, or an equivalent item. Questions on age of death (if deceased) may not be necessary yet, given the young age of the cohort.

Intergenerational financial support