The new Growing Up in Ireland study, published yesterday, acknowledges the importance of family structure and cites research that saying having two parent is generally better than one.

Given the huge reluctance on the part of ‘official Ireland’ to ever own up to this research, this has to count as something of a breakthrough.

The new Growing Up in Ireland study: “There is evidence to suggest that particular forms of family structure may influence the circumstances and developmental outcomes of children.

“For example, McLanahan and Sandefur (1994) note that children in one-parent families are likely to do less well on a number of child development indicators than children in two-parent families.”  

It goes on to cite a 2001 study showing “that problem behaviours were more frequent among children from unmarried than married families, and more frequent for boys than girls from cohabiting families.

It adds: “In Ireland one-parent families have been identified as having the highest risk of poverty and deprivation.”  

This comes on top of the UN admitting in a 2007 report that children tend to do better growing up with their two married parents than in other family structures and child law expert Geoffrey Shannon admitting that the married family is the “gold standard” for raising children.

Yet to the extent that the health of marriage ever gets discussed in this country, the debate is dominated by voices determined to deny that marriage, and mothers and fathers together, have any special importance for children, or that the rapid rise in the number of children being raised outside marriage constitutes a cause for concern.

That’s why this new report, by acknowledging what the research actually has to say on this score, has to be welcomed. The next step now is for someone outside the usual circles to say we ought to promote marriage between men and women for the sake of children.