School Absenteeism in Ireland Rises Above Pre-Pandemic Levels
According to a new study published by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), significantly more children in Ireland are missing school than before the Covid pandemic. The study examined absenteeism patterns among children aged 9 to 13 and found that more than one in five primary and secondary school students missed at least 20 days during an academic year, reaching the threshold for “chronic absenteeism.”
Using data from the longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland study, the report compared two groups of children born a decade apart, in 1998 and 2008. As in many other countries, the rise in absenteeism in Ireland since the pandemic is associated with socio-emotional difficulties, which are more common among young people than they were a decade earlier. The report also found that disliking school has become a much stronger predictor of absenteeism than in the past. Absence rates are lower in schools that involve students more in decision-making and higher among young people with negative attitudes toward school.
The study also highlights socioeconomic and family factors associated with absenteeism. School absence is significantly more common among children from families with unemployed parents, parents who work in unskilled jobs, or parents facing financial difficulties, as well as among children in single-parent households. Children are also significantly more likely to miss school if their parents use harsher approaches, such as shouting rather than explaining things, or if their households lack regular bedtime or breakfast routines.