A SIX YEAR ESRI study involving almost 20,000 children has detailed the dramatic effect the recession has had on the economic vulnerability of families.
The Growing up in Ireland study has continued interviewing two different groups of children, one of which was born in 1998 and the other in 2008.
Both groups and their parents were surveyed in 2007/2008 and then again over the course of nine months in 2011/2012.
The results showed that among both groups, living standards have fallen with almost one third of both groups lacking one or more basic goods or services in 2012.
The proportion of families lacking one or more basic goods or services rose from 21% to 30% for the 1998 cohort and from 14% 29% for the 1998 cohort.
Levels of joblessness also increased among both groups with joblessness among one-parent families a particular concern.
The survey found that the level of economic risk was highest for one-parent families with an estimated risk of 49% among smaller one-parent families and 68% among larger one-parent families.
“This research highlights the value of being able to track the experience of the same families over time,” according to the ESRI’s Dorothy Watson.
The results allow us to see that there have been important changes over time in the composition of economically vulnerable families. Because of the recession, many economically vulnerable families no longer fit the traditional profile of poor families.
Full details of the latest report of the Growing Up in Ireland Study will be released later this morning as part of the the Croke Park Conference Centre.
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