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...

The number of abortions being carried out in Northern Ireland has increased by a massive 29pc in a single year, according to official statistics published by the Department of Health. The figure of 2,792  is three times the number of Northern Ireland women who went to England for abortions before the law in the North...

While the cost of housing is frequently cited as a reason for delayed family formation and having children, the evidence does not strongly support this claim, according to a new study from the Policy Exchange think tank in the UK, which mentions Ireland, among other countries. A brand new Amarach survey commissioned by Accord, the...

The number of couples requesting euthanasia together is on the rise in the Netherlands, according to official reports. In 2024, there were 54 such cases, compared to just nine in 2018. A notable case involving a former Dutch prime minister and his wife last year appears to have contributed to the growing demand. In the...

Parents have long been regarded as the primary educators of their children. This is recognised in some of the foundational human rights documents of the post-World War 2 world. But a new UNESCO document now demotes parents to the role of children’s ‘first educators’ and promotes the role of other bodies in the educating and...

Falling fertility rates are propelling the major economies toward a major reckoning, according to a new study by the McKinsey Global Institute, one of the world’s leading management consulting firms. As the report, entitled “Dependency and Depopulation? Confronting the Consequences of a New Demographic Reality” confirms, a huge and growing portion of the global population...

We have cast our eye over the Programme for Government (PFG) and assessed it from the point of view of the issues relevant to The Iona Institute, that is, family policy, the future of Church-run schools, RSE, gender ideology among other things. The good news is that no new referendums are planned, or new Citizens’...