Ireland’s children receive a pass mark in terms of child welfare, according to a major new UN report. The study, carried out by Unicef, the UN body with responsibility for children, shows that Ireland is in the middle of the league table of industrialised countries. Research was carried out in 21 of the countries which comprise the Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

It also found that family structure had a significant impact in outcomes for children. While it said that “plenty of children in single-parent families…are growing up secure and happy” it went on to acknowledge that “at the statistical level there is evidence to associate growing up in single-parent families and stepfamilies with greater risk to well-being”.

Risks mentioned by the report included a greater risk of dropping out of school, of leaving home early, of poorer health, of low skills and of low pay. Furthermore, it continued, “such risks appear to persist even when the substantial effect of increased poverty levels in single-parent and stepfamilies have been taken into account”.

The report showed that Ireland did slightly better than average in regards to the percentage of children living in single-parent families. Just over 10 per cent of Irish children live in single parent families, as compared to an average rate of 12.2 per cent among the OECD. By comparison, the equivalent British figure is almost 17 per cent.

However, Irish children are considerably less likely to live in stepfamilies compared to others living in Western countries. Over 8 per cent of children in the OECD live in stepfamilies, while the equivalent Irish figure is 3 per cent. The equivalent figure in Britain is 14 per cent, while in the US it is 16 per cent.

Other indicators of well-being measured by the report included educational achievement, relative poverty and health and safety.