Trauma in childhood drives emigration, ESRI research shows

Childhood trauma may be as strong a driver of emigration as unemployment, research shows.

A study of returned emigrants who were away from Ireland for periods between the 1950s and 1980s, found almost 16% of the men who stayed away long-term — 10 years or more — had suffered sexual and/or physical abuse as children, compared to 10% of those who never left.

Men who lived outside Ireland for up to 10 years were almost twice as likely to have parents with alcohol or drug problems as those who never left — a rate of 13.3% compared to 7.5%. For women, the difference was less pronounced, and only applied to short-term migrants.