The Iona Institute has often argued that when assessing the strength of family life in a country it is mistake to focus solely on the rate of marital breakdown. Far more important is the number of children who are being raised by their two married parents, or not, as the case may be.

The rate of marital breakdown obviously has an influence on this figure, but even more important is the number of children who are born outside marriage and are being raised either by cohabiting couples or by lone parents.

The Irish rate of marital breakdown is low by EU standards, but figures produced today by Eurostat confirm that the number of Irish children being raised outside marriage is high by EU standards. Only seven other EU countries of the 27 have a higher percentage than us.

For example, Ireland, along with Latvia, has the highest percent of children being raised in lone parent households in the whole of the European Union. The figure is 23.2 percent compared with the EU average of 14 percent.

Another 7.4 percent of Irish children are being raised by cohabiting parents. This compares with the EU average of 11.4 percent. (It is not clear, from either the marriage figures, or the figures for cohabitation, how many children are being raised by their actual biological parents).

The point need hardly be laboured that if as a society we believe it is generally a good thing that mothers and fathers raise their children together, then we should be very concerned by these figures.

A few other observations are in order. One is that there is huge variation in the rates of both cohabitation and single parenthood across the EU.

For example, in Greece, only 4.8 percent of children are being raised in lone parent families. In Italy the figures is 10.8 percent, in Spain it is 7.1 percent.

The Dutch figure at 11.5 percent is only two percent below the EU average. Is this because of Holland’s liberal sex education policy (actually, it is liberal only in parts of Holland)?

Well, if that is so, then the percentage should be lower in Sweden which is arguably even more liberal than Holland, but in Sweden it higher there at 17 percent.

Speaking of Sweden, 27.3 percent of children live with cohabiting parents, far above the EU average of 11.5 percent. France and Estonia also have very high levels of cohabitation.

Overall, 73.8 percent of children across the EU live with their two married parents. The Irish figure is lower at 67.8 percent. In Sweden it is only 54.4 percent, in Estonia 54 percent.

Does any of this matter? It does, because as the evidence clearly shows, children tend to do best when raised by their two married, biological parents.

Next question; why are so many people so reluctant to look at the evidence?

Final point; if we’re really pro-child, then we should be pro-marriage. Given that Western societies are so bent on downgrading the special status of marriage, we are not at all as pro-child as we like to think.