Over two thirds of Irish people believe that children are happier when raised by a “loving mother and father”.

The finding is just one contained in a new survey on attitudes to marriage and the family conducted by Amarach Research on behalf of the Accord, the Catholic Marriage Agency.

The survey, ‘The Meaning of Marriage’, found that 66% of Irish people agreed with the question “Do you agree or disagree that a child is more likely to grow up happy if raised in a home with a loving mother and father?” Agreement was strongest among those aged 55+, with 78% agreeing, followed by those aged 35-44, at 61%. Overall, 67% of males and 63% of females agreed. Just 16% of respondents disagreed with the question.

When questioned on family situations, 32% of those surveyed agreed that couples who have children should be married, decline from 46 percent in 2006.

On the question of marriage, the survey found that 61% of people believe marriage to be a commitment for life, to be broken only under “extreme circumstances”– an increase from 56% of those polled in 2006, while 54% disagreed that marriage was an ‘old fashioned’ institution.The belief in marriage as lifelong, Accord pointed out, was especially strong among those aged 35-34, while 51% of all respondents said most married couples they know had “happy and healthy marriages”.

As he participated at the launch of ‘The Meaning of Marriage’ during the annual tradition of blessing an engaged couple at Dublin’s Shrine of St Valentine, Bishop Denis Nulty stressed that it remains of “vital importance to society that the definition of marriage is protected, sustained and supported”.