Ireland’s marriage rate has now reached its lowest ever level, not including the years of the pandemic. At 3.8 marriages per thousand adults last year, the rate has fallen below the EU average and is very likely to fall even lower. In 2024, there were 19,680 opposite-sex marriages registered in Ireland, marking a 4.1pc decrease...
Often overlooked in coverage of the pontificate of Pope Francis (RIP) were his strong comments on the family, the right to life, the dangers of gender ideology and the emerging demographic crisis. Here we have collated some of his thoughts on these important issues. The family The family – as God wants it, composed of...
‘The Quiet Revival’, a major new report from the Bible Society in the UK has found something surprising: a significant upsurge in church attendance, especially among young people, challenging previous assumptions about Christianity’s long-term decline in that country. Based on YouGov surveys of over 13,000 people in England and Wales, the report reveals a 56pc...
Fertility rates are plunging around the world and have dropped in many cases to less than the replacement level of 2.1 children per couple. The finger of blame (so to speak) has been pointed in many directions, not least the cost of living and changes in values. But a new piece of research reckons part...
A new paper from the Anscombe Bioethics Centre in Oxford warns against using Australia as a model for UK laws on assisted suicide and euthanasia. Both the UK Parliament at Westminster and the Scottish Parliament are currently considering bills that would legalise what is often called “assisted dying”. In his briefing paper Wrong Side of the...
Just like in the South, the population of Northern Ireland is ageing rapidly. A recent report from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) projects that by mid-century there will be one pensioner for every 2.5 people in the workforce compared with one for almost four people of working age now. NISRA expects the...
If we want prosperity, one important step is supporting and rebuilding the family. This is the central argument presented by the economist Philip Pilkington in his new booklet “Family Matters: Why Our Choices Determine Our Economic Prosperity”, which is published by the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC). The study connects economic growth, and demographic trends...
Is the huge additional money being put into daycare by the State providing value for money from a taxpayer point of view? To judge from a recent ESRI study, the answer is no. The effect of the particular means-tested daycare subsidy under examination by the ESRI article was to attract only 1,100 additional mothers into...
The decline in the share of Christians in the US population appeared to have stopped, according to a major new survey. This is notable because it seems to contradict the thesis that the decline of Christianity in Western countries is inevitable and irreversible. The survey, from the Pew Research Center, says that the proportion of...
Social attitudes towards the family and children need to be reshaped if we want to address sharply declining birth rates and the increasing phenomenon of unplanned childlessness, a major new report from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) says. States need to promote policies that promote family formation, the report says while...
