Children in poorer areas more negative about school

Migrant children and those from disadvantaged areas start primary school significantly earlier than others and do not settle as well, significant new research shows.

The average ages at which all children begin school has been increasing significantly over the past two decades, but almost half have started junior infants by age four-and-a-half according to the long-running Growing up in Ireland (GUI) study.

However, a new study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) shows that those from more advantaged homes start later, such as children with professional parents, mothers with a college degree, two-parent or higher income homes. But children from homes where nobody is working start an average of two months earlier than those with professional parents.