ESRI November 2022 Newsletter

December 01, 2022

Dear Reader,

The final few months of the year are always busy in the ESRI and this November was no different as we published reports from across our research areas.

In the past four weeks, we disseminated work addressing adolescent wellbeing during the pandemic, reading ability in children and the social worlds of nine-year-olds. The latter report found that gender and social background differences in children’s activities emerge early on and pointed to the importance of providing access to a variety of activities in early year across all social groups. While schools are important sites to encourage physical exercise, there remains a need for community-based facilities.

On Monday, we released Modelling productivity levels in Ireland and Northern Ireland, the first comprehensive study comparing productivity in Ireland and Northern Ireland. This was conducted under our joint research programme with the Department of Taoiseach’s Shared Island Unit on the economic and social opportunities from increased cooperation between the North and South.

On Tuesday, we published Youth Knowledge and Perceptions of Climate Mitigation. Our Behavioural Research Unit has been doing a lot of work on the public’s understanding of climate change, but this was the first time we focused specifically on young people’s views. The results showed that young people in Ireland are willing to fly less and eat less meat, but see the Government as having the responsibility to bring about change. They want to see non-essential domestic flights banned and car-free zones introduced in town and city centres, interesting findings for policymakers.

In December we’ll be releasing the Winter Quarterly Economic Commentary which will include Special Articles on housing and the distributional impacts of Budget 2023. We will also launch an analysis of North-South energy infrastructure, the sixth report with the Shared Island Unit, and you can attend the webinar launch by registering below.

Regards,