STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD: IRELAND 2006 Towards a better understanding of childrens lives AnneMarie

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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD IRELAND 2006
Towards a better understanding of childrens
livesAnne-Marie Brooks28th June 2007
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BACKGROUND (1)

• Commitment given in the National Childrens
  Strategy
  
• Compiled by the Research Division, Office of the
  Minister for Children in association with
  
• The Central Statistics Office
• The Statistics Division of the Department of
  Health and Children
  
• The Health Promotion Unit, National University of
  Galway, Ireland
  
• Range of reviewers of single indicators from
  policy, research and service provider areas
  

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BACKGROUND (2)

• A background review of indicators sets in use
  elsewhere and the compilation of an inventory of
  key indicators, domains and indicator selection
  criteria
• A feasibility study of the availability of
  national statistics to construct the indicators
  identified in the previous step
  
• A study on Childrens Understandings of
  Well-Being and
  
• A consensus process referred to as a Delphi
  technique, where participants on a panel of
  expertise agreed indicators for use in the Irish
  context.

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PRINCIPLES

• Go beyond basic survival in its representation of
  well-being
  
• Focus on positive as well as negative aspects of
  childrens lives
  
• Take account of the experience of childhood in
  itself
  
• Include some of the new domains of child
  well-being
  

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SELECTION CRITERIA

• Comprehensive coverage
• Children of all ages
• Clear and comprehensible
• Positive outcomes
• Forward-looking
• Rigorous methods
• Geographically detailed
• Cost-efficient
• Reflective of social goals

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AIM OF THE REPORT

• Describes the lives of children in Ireland
• Tracks changes over time
• Benchmarks progress in Ireland relative to other
  countries
  

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STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT (1)

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Section 1 Socio-demographics
• Section 2 Childrens relationships -
  Parental relationships
  
• - Peers relationships
• Section 3 Childrens outcomes
• - Education
• - Health
• - Social, emotional and behavioural
• Section 4 Formal and informal supports
• Index

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STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT (2)

• Context
• Significance
• Findings description according to
• gender,
• Age,
• Geography,
• Social class,
• International comparisons
• Technical notes
• Access further information

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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD

• KEY FINDINGS

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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD Socio-Demographics

• population under 18 years
• 25 in 2005
• children in lone parent families
• 14 in 2004
• Infant mortality rate
• 4.8 per 1,000 in 2004
• Child mortality rate
• 4.6 per 10,000 in 2004

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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD Childrens
Relationships
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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD Childrens Health
Outcomes

• 5.4 babies born at low birth weight (2003)
• Breastfeeding initation rates of 44.5 (2003)
• Youth suicide accounted for 22 of all deaths in
  the 10-17 year age group (2004)
  
• 1,425 substantiated notifications to the Child
  Protection Notification System (2004)
  

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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD Childrens
Educational Outcomes
10 children absent from school from primary sch
ool for 20 days or more
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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD Childrens Social,
Emotional and Behavioural Outcomes
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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD Childrens Social,
Emotional and Behavioural Outcomes
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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD Formal and Informal
Support

• 22.4 of children under 18 at risk of poverty
  (2004)
  
• 17,517 children 7-17 years referred to Garda
  Juvenile Liaison Programme (2005)
  
• 5,060 children and young people in the care of
  the Health Services Executive (2004)

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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD

• KEY CONSIDERATIONS

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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILDKey Considerations

• Indicators need to be available over time
• International comparisons are needed
• Information on subgroups is needed
• Information on local services is needed
• Regional-specific data are crucial and
• A high level of disaggregation is needed.

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WELL-BEING INDICATORSIndicators need to be
available over time

• Decrease in infant mortality rate
• 4.8 per 1,000 in 2004
• 6.3 per 1,000 in 2000

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WELL-BEING INDICATORSInternational Comparisons
are needed

• Eg infant mortality rate
• Ireland
• 4.8 per 1,000 in 2004
• 6.3 per 1,000 in 2000
• Sweden
• 3.1 per 1,000 in 2004
• EU-25
• 4.0 per 1,000 in 2004

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WELL-BEING INDICATORSInformation on sub-groups
is needed

• Eg SIDS infant mortality rate
• Irish children
• 0.7 per 1,000 in 2002
• Traveller children
• 8.8 per 1,000 in 2002

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WELL-BEING INDICATORSInformation on services in
needed

• 22,335 households with children needing social
  housing. This represents a decrease of 24 since
  2002 (2005)
  
• 17,517 children 7-17 years referred to Garda
  Juvenile Liaison Programme (20 as a result of
  alcohol related offences) (2005)
  
• In April 2006, 1,761 children were known to be on
  a hospital waiting list for treatment. 40 of
  these children were on the hospital waiting list
  for 3-6 months and 26 for one year or more.

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WELL-BEING INDICATORSRegional-specific data are
crucial

• Public health nursing home visit within 48 hours
  for newborn babies ranged from 59 in ERHA to
  95.5 in WHB (2004 data)
  

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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILD

• NEXT STEPS

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STATE OF THE NATIONS CHILDNext Steps

• State of the Nations Child Report 2008
• Investment in new, and improvement of existing
  data sources
  
• National Data Strategy for Children

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• Office of the Minister for Children
• Department of Health and Children
• Hawkins House
• Dublin 2
• Phone [phone]
• Anne-Marie.Brooks_at_health.gov.ie
• State of the Nations Child Report 2006
• can be downloaded from
• www.omc.gov.ie