Conservative women are generally happier than their liberal counterparts, according to a new survey, and marriage and family life are strongly linked to the greater life satisfaction of conservatives. The American Family Survey, an annual nationwide study of 3,000 Americans, found that only 15pc of liberal women of the 18-55 age group are “completely satisfied”...

Press Release from the Iona Institute Budget’s day-care provisions almost totally overlook stay-at-home parents Budget also worsens effects of tax individualisation September 28, 2022  – Budget 2023 is unfair and discriminatory towards all parents who do not use day-care. By allocating 121 millions in public funds towards a big reduction in day-care fees, the Government...

When we see reports about anti-social behaviour and criminality – for example, the ramming of a garda car in Dublin this week – no-one ever explores whether there might be a link with family breakdown. It would be surprising if this was not sometimes the case. Plenty of studies overseas have established such a link,...

Almost half of children born in the UK in 2000 did not grow up with both of their biological parents throughout their childhood, according to a new report by the Children’s Commissioner, Rachel de Souza. This is because so many are born to lone parents, or else see their parents (married or cohabiting) separate.  This...

In England last year, a majority of births (51.3pc) took place outside marriage. In Ireland, the figure is now above 40pc. Some might say that this is a purely private matter, but it’s not true, because family structure is important and the evidence remains that children tend to fare best when raised by their own...

David Quinn, director of the Iona Institute, discussed on The Pat Kenny Show a recent survey that found that only one in five parents wants their children in daycare. You can listen to the item here.

Press Release from The Iona Institute Only one in five people want children placed in day-care says new poll Poll also finds vast majority want two or three children     August 10, 2022  – A new Amarach Research poll commissioned by The Iona Institute shows that only one in five people want children under...

David Quinn was on Newstalk Breakfast discussing whether the Government’s should make daycare free. “There seems to be an assumption in this debate that every parent wants to put their young child in daycare. If this is not true, the Government cannot put all the money into daycare sector at the expenses of the other...

Ireland had one of the lowest marriage rates in Europe in 2020, according to new data from Eurostat. This was the year Covid emerged, so marriage rates dropped everywhere, but Ireland was particularly bad, and the rate was already low. Figures from Eurostat show that Ireland had a marriage rate of 1.9 per 1,000 people...

New figures from the CSO throw light on the changing nature of marriage in Ireland. To cut a long story short, the institution is in continuing decline. In all, there were 16,717 opposite-sex marriages last year; 15 percent less than in 2019. There were 500 same-sex marriages. The marriage rate per 1,000 population was just...