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The Journal
5 days ago
- Business
- The Journal
Around one in six children do not live with their fathers full-time, report finds
JUST OVER HALF of children report getting on 'very well' with their father at age 9, as research finds that 18% of children at that age do not live with their fathers full-time. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has published its scoping study examining the profiles of fathers who do not live with their children full-time, termed in the report as 'non-resident fathers', and their relationships with their children. It comes as NGOs and separated parents have emphasised the importance of including non-resident fathers in research studies. The report used data from the long-running Growing Up in Ireland study. The study uses data from two separate cohorts – a cohort from 1998, who were aged 9 at the first interview in 2007, and from 2008, who were aged 9 months in the first wave in 2008. Advertisement The report found that 14% of children aged between 9 months and 5-years-old did not live with their fathers, rising to 18% by the age of 9. Half of non-resident fathers see their babies or toddlers several times a week, mothers reported, while families with fathers that did not live with their children tended to have younger mothers with lower levels of education, likely to live in urban areas. Around a third of children aged between 5 and 9 see their fathers at least a few times a week. Just over a quarter of non-resident fathers have little to no contact with their children. 'Although the non-resident fathers surveyed tend to be actively involved in their children's lives, around half of them would like more frequent contact with their child,' the report said. Co-author of the report Emer Smyth said that research needs to provide a 'comprehensive' picture of the range of influences on children's lives, including their parents who may not live with them. 'A significant proportion of children – around one-in-six – do not live with their father full-time, so not including their father gives only an incomplete picture of their lives. Parents can differ in their perceptions of the father-child relationship, so capturing both perspectives is important,' she said. Some 38% of mothers separated from their child's father receive regular payments in the case where the child primarily lives with their mother. Another 11% receive payments when needed for a particular purpose. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Independent
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Independent
Over a quarter of fathers who do not live with their children have ‘little to no contact with them'
While 14pc of children between nine months and five years do not live full-time with their fathers, rising to 18pc by nine years of age, according to new research published by the Economic and Social Research Institution (ESRI). The report uses Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) data to look at the profile of fathers not living full-time with their children, termed 'non-resident fathers'. The GUI study, produced in partnership with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (DCDE), has included both resident and non-resident fathers in almost all waves of the study. The primary focus of the report is on how best to involve non-resident fathers in future waves of the GUI birth cohort, however it provides interesting insights on non-resident fathers and their relationships with their children. Families with a non-resident father have much younger mothers, who tend to have lower levels of education and are more likely to live in urban areas. Households that experienced parental separation during the study were more disadvantaged in profile, with this group of fathers having lower educational levels, higher unemployment and greater financial difficulties. Half of non-resident fathers see their babies or toddlers several times a week, according to mothers' reports. Contact is less frequent as children transition to school, though around a third of five and nine-year-olds see their fathers at least a few times a week. Although the non-resident fathers surveyed tend to be actively involved in their children's lives, around half of them would like more frequent contact. Parental accounts of the father's frequency of contact differ, with mothers reporting lower levels of contact than fathers do. Over a third (38pc) of separated mothers receive regular payments from the non-resident father, while 11pc receive payments on an ad hoc basis. From the child's perspective, over half (53pc) report getting on 'very well' with their father at age nine, indicating the importance of their father in their lives. Birth and child cohort studies internationally have varied in the extent to which they include the perspectives of resident fathers, with even greater variation found in the inclusion of non-resident fathers. Studies that do include non-resident fathers have yielded important insights into their influence on child outcomes and the importance of the resources. These are financial, social and emotional resources – that fathers provide for their children. However, many studies have experienced challenges in including non-resident fathers. Both NGOs and separated parents strongly emphasised the importance of including non-resident parents in research, with interviewees highlighting the active involvement of fathers in their children's lives and the consequent impact on child development. Emer Smyth, co-author of the report, said a significant proportion of children – around one-in-six – do not live with their father full-time. "So not including their father gives only an incomplete picture of their lives,' she said. 'Parents can differ in their perceptions of the father-child relationship, so capturing both perspectives is important.'
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Study finds 14% of young children do not live full-time with fathers
Half of non-resident fathers see their babies and toddlers several times a week, with contact becoming less frequent as children transition to school, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found. The study has prompted calls from the ESRI to include non-resident fathers in research on children's lives to provide a 'comprehensive picture'. Using data from the longitudinal study Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) which tracks different cohorts of children, households that experienced parental separation during the study were found to be more disadvantaged. Fathers in particular tended to have lower educational levels, higher levels of unemployment and greater financial difficulties, while mothers tended to be younger in age, had lower levels of education and were more likely to live in urban areas. READ MORE Some 14 per cent of children aged between nine months and five years old do not live full-time with their fathers, rising to 18 per cent by nine years of age. While just more than a quarter of non-resident fathers have little to no contact with their children at each age examined, half see their babies or toddlers several times a week, according to reports from mothers. The study found contact is less frequent as children make the transition to school, with about a third of children aged five and nine seeing their fathers at least a few times each week. Parental accounts of the father's frequency of contact differed, with mothers reporting lower levels than fathers. More than a third (38 per cent) of separated mothers receive regular payments from the non-resident father, while 11 per cent receive payments on 'an ad hoc basis', according to the study. The ESRI said studies that include non-resident fathers have yielded 'important insights' into their influence on child outcomes and the importance of the resources that they provide whether financial, social or emotional. Emer Smyth, co-author of the report, said about one-in-six children do not live with their father full-time, 'so not including their father gives only an incomplete picture of their lives'. 'Parents can differ in their perceptions of the father-child relationship, so capturing both perspectives is important,' Ms Smyth said. However, many studies have experienced challenges in including non-resident fathers, the ESRI said. In Ireland, the amount of mothers willing to give researchers permission to contact the father fell from about a third when their child was nine months and three years old to just more than a quarter when they were aged nine, often corresponding with the frequency of the father's contact. [ Modern dads: 'Being in the room doesn't mean much if you're on your phone' Opens in new window ] Some 35 per cent of the fathers who were contacted when their child was three completed the survey, falling to 14 per cent by the age of nine, with the ESRI saying those in more frequent contact with their child are more likely to participate.
RTÉ News
6 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
14% of young children not living with fathers
14% of children in Ireland between nine months and five years do not live with their fathers full-time according to research published by the Economic and Social Research Institute. By the age of nine, the figure rises to 18%, according to the ESRI. Using data from the Growing Up in Ireland study, which is produced in partnership with the Department of Children, it found that households with parental separation were more disadvantaged in profile. Where fathers were not resident in the home, mothers were "much younger", tended to have lower levels of education and were more likely to live in urban areas. It found that the fathers had lower educational levels, higher unemployment levels and greater financial difficulties. Mothers reported that half of fathers who were not resident at home saw their babies or toddlers several times a week. Contact was somewhat less frequent as children made the transition to school, although around a third of five-year-olds and nine-year-olds saw their fathers at least a few times a week. Just over a quarter of "non-resident fathers" had little to no contact with their children at each age examined. Although the fathers surveyed who were not living with their children tended to be actively involved in their children's lives, around half of them said would like more frequent contact with their child. Parental accounts of the father's frequency of contact differed. Mothers reported lower levels of contact than fathers did. From the child's perspective, just over half (53%) reported getting on "very well" with their father at age nine, which indicated the importance of their father in their lives according to the report. Over a third (38%) of separated mothers received regular payments from the non-resident father, while 11% received payments on "an ad hoc basis". The ESRI noted the importance of these payments for "a significant group of families". In order to conduct the research, mothers were asked to help access the fathers by providing contact details or passing on information. When the children were between nine months and three years old, around a third of mothers were willing to give permission for fathers to be contacted. This dropped to just over a quarter when the child was aged nine. In order to get a comprehensive picture of the range of influences on the lives of children, it required input from parents who were not living with them according to researchers. "Parents can differ in their perceptions of the father-child relationship, so capturing both perspectives is important," according to co-author of the report Emer Smyth. Fathers who were in more frequent contact with their child were more likely to complete the survey. Of the fathers who were contacted when their child was aged three, 35% completed the survey. However, the response rate fell to 14% when the child was aged nine. Separated parents said they would be more likely to take part in research if its purpose and how the information would be used was made very clear, according to co-author Merike Darmody.
RTÉ News
28-04-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Inside the wellbeing and relationships of Ireland's 25-year-olds
Analysis: Are Ireland's 25-year-olds close with their parents and do they have people they can rely on? Here's what CSO data tells us We spoke to Dr Katie O'Farrell, a Senior Statistician with the Central Statistics Office (CSO), who recently produced the CSO's Growing Up in Ireland release which captured the views of a group of people who were born in 1998 about life in Ireland. Here she provides a snapshot of what we learned about the wellbeing of 25-years-olds from that survey, and how they feel about their relationships with family, friends, or romantic partners. For this group of 25-year-olds, what does their family life look like? Overall, it was interesting to see that this group of young people say they have maintained very strong family ties, close friendships, and were involved in romantic relationships. The quality of their relationship with their mother and father was mainly positive, with very few of our group of 25-year-olds saying their relationship with a parent had disimproved since they were previously interviewed at age 20. From CSO Ireland, Main results from the Growing Up in Ireland Cohort '98 at age 25 The pattern was broadly similar whether respondents were still living in the family home or had moved out. Only a very small number were living outside both the parental home and the region they had lived in when they were nine years old, which gives an indication of the close relationship and strong ties between adult children and their parents in Ireland. You mentioned friendships – do young adults have people they can rely on? We asked our respondents who they could confide in with issues and feelings, and both men and women said they would go to a friend, a partner, or their mother with personal issues. Most of the group said some of their friends were close friends, however, nearly 6% of respondents said they had no close friends. When it comes to intimate relationships, almost 60% of this group were in a romantic relationship and of those, just over a quarter were living with their partner. There's been an increased focus on mental health in the last few years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. How are 25-year-olds doing? When we look at the area of mental health, we asked if this group were ever diagnosed with depression or anxiety by a medical professional. It is certainly noteworthy that the rates of diagnoses have increased since we met this same group at age 20, with 25% saying they had been diagnosed with depression or anxiety by the age of 25. While rates of diagnoses have risen over time for both men and women, the gap between the sexes in terms of a diagnosis of depression or anxiety has also increased. More than three in ten (31.5%) women reported a depression or anxiety diagnosis compared with less than two in ten (18.3%) men. The gap was also evident in terms of self-esteem, with the women in our group of 25-year-olds reporting low self-esteem (23.5%) while for men it was 18.2%. When asked about stress, nearly 22% of women reported moderate or higher levels of stress, compared with 15.3% of men who reported the same levels. From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, Many young people in Ireland looking for a way to socialise without alcohol Are there any other areas of well-being where we see a difference across the sexes? Yes, in addition to mental health, participation in exercise and alcohol use also differed by sex. Looking at exercise, we saw that the women in our group were taking part in vigorous exercise less often than men. More than two-thirds of men (67.9%) reported they had done at least 30 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise – defined as causing a large increase in the heart rate and breathing - in the week before completing the survey. This compares with less than half (49.2%) of women who had exercised vigorously in the week before completing the survey. We also observed different patterns when we looked at alcohol use with the men in our group more at risk than women. What do the patterns of alcohol use look like for 25-year-old men? We used a measure from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to assess levels of drinking in our respondents. When we spoke to this group at age 20 just over two in five of our respondents reported levels of drinking that could be categorised as risky or hazardous. At age 25, this figure had decreased slightly to just under two in five respondents reporting this level of drinking. Men (44.5%) recorded a risky or hazardous level of drinking more frequently than women (33.6%), with men educated to degree level or higher most at risk of hazardous consumption of alcohol at 51.2%. Overall, though, most 25-year-olds said they were in excellent (22.7%) or very good (42.1%) general health at the time of the survey; and out of a maximum score of 10, life satisfaction for this group was on average 6.5.
