Babies, Budgets and Bathwater

This article outlines the trends in family composition, women's participation rate in the labour market, and the birth rate. The likely age distribution of the Irish population into the next century is outlined. One of the remarkable patterns observed in Ireland is the small proportion of the population over the age of 65. This pattern is going to be broken in the next century, especially since the life expectancy for males aged 45 and over increased sharply between 1981-91. There was a more gradual increase in the life expectancy of the female population.