Family Figures: Family dynamics and family types in Ireland, 1986-2006

22 February 2010

Family Figures: Family dynamics and family types in Ireland, 1986-2006

Study Provides Detailed Account of Changes in the Structure of Ireland’s Families. The most detailed study to date of trends in the structure of Irish families is published today. Family Figures, funded by the Family Support Agency and produced by researchers from the ESRI and UCD, analysed Census data made available for the first time in cooperation with the Central Statistics Office. The report contains many new findings relating to trends in partnership and childbearing between 1986 and 2006. The report deals with four aspects of family trends: (1) Singlehood and couple formation (2) Marital breakdown (3) Fertility (4) Lone parenthood. Results include: On singlehood and couple formation:

• Across all social classes, marriage rates have fallen among those aged in their 20s and risen among those aged over 30. This delay in entering marriage is partly due to people delaying forming any kind of partnership and partly due to the rapid increase in cohabitation among younger adults.
• By 2006, twice as many 25 year-olds were cohabiting as were married. Cohabitation is mostly a prelude to marriage, but an increasing number of cohabiting couples have children, suggesting cohabitation may be a preferred option among a minority.
• Nationality, ethnicity and religion are stronger influences on whether people cohabit or marry than socio-economic position, though people in the middle of the range for educational attainment are most likely to form partnerships.
• The number of people in same-sex couples is still very small in absolute terms (0.15% of 15-59 year-olds), but is rising rapidly. Most are in their 30s and 40s and have high educational attainment.

On marital breakdown:

• The marital breakdown rate increased rapidly in the 1990s but has levelled off in recent years and remains low by international standards. There is no evidence that the introduction of divorce in 1997 affected the trend in marital breakdown.
• The cohort now in its 40s has a higher rate of marital breakdown than older cohorts. Breakdown is more common among lower socio-economic groups.
• Among those whose marriage has broken down, divorce (as opposed to separation) is more common among the better off.
• Married couples with one child have a 25-30% higher risk of marital breakdown than those with no children or with more than one child.

On fertility:

• Most women now delay having children beyond 30 years of age, with the majority now having two or three. Over one-in-six women now have no children at age 45.
• The higher a woman’s educational attainment, the longer she is likely to delay having children and the fewer children she is likely to have. Fertility rates also vary by region, nationality, ethnicity and religion.

On lone parenthood:

• In 2006, 57% of lone parents had never married. The proportion of lone parents who experienced a marital breakdown was 35% and is increasing.
• There is an extremely strong relationship between low educational attainment and the likelihood of becoming a never-married lone mother.
• Women describing themselves as Catholic or Church of Ireland are also more likely to be never-married lone mothers.
• There are over 10,000 lone fathers, almost all from broken marriages. We estimate the chances that the children of a broken marriage live with the father at one in eight.

Family Figures contains many more results relating to changes in family structures between 1986  - 2006. The authors discuss the implications of the findings in relation to a range of family policies, including the appropriate public supports available to different family structures, the rights and duties of unmarried partners and the need for a debate on Irish fertility rates. Launching the report Mary Hanafin T.D., Minister for Social and Family Affairs said: "The 'Family Figures' report provides an in-depth analysis of family life in Ireland, and helps us to better understand trends. This project is unique as it is the first time researchers have been granted access to the full 2006 CSO Census file and so allows a more in-depth study of family life. The report will be a valuable resource for policy makers and those interested in how families are developing and changing in Ireland."

Note: (1) Family Figures: Family dynamics and family types in Ireland, 1986-2006, by Pete Lunn (ESRI), Tony Fahey (UCD), and Carmel Hannan (University of Limerick), is a joint publication of the Family Support Agency (FSA) and the ESRI. It will be published on the ESRI website at 3 p.m. Monday 22nd February. Note the embargo is until Monday 22nd February at 3 p.m. (2) A follow-up study to be carried out during 2010 has been commissioned by the FSA, involving the same ESRI/UCD research team. The aim is to analyse family structure and fertility at the household rather than the individual level, allowing a further range of issues to be addressed, including the extent to which partnerships occur within and across social groups, the influence of family structures on fertility, and the circumstances of children living without one of their biological parents. (3) The 2006 Census Research Microdata File was made available by the CSO Census Office on a pilot basis for this project, following the introduction of a new policy on access to CSO data. It is the first time that researchers have been able to access the Census microdata. Ends

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