The number of Irish children born outside marriage, and who are being raised outside marriage is as high as it is in most other Western countries, according to a new study.

In addition, the number of Irish people aged 18-49 who are married is among the lowest in the Western world.

Levels of cohabitation are also in line with many other Western countries.  

Overall, the figures show that the ‘traditional’ family consisting of a married couple with children is no stronger in Ireland than in other Western countries, contrary to popular belief.

The World Family Map 2013, the first of its kind, provides comparative data on the well-being of children worldwide. It is published by Child Trends in the United States.

The data shows that in 2006, 39 percent of Irish adults aged 18-49 were married. Another 13pc of adults in this age bracket were cohabiting.

By comparison, 52pc of Italians in this age category were married, with about four percent cohabiting, In Germany, 51pc of 18-49 olds were married, with 15pc cohabiting, while in Poland, 52pc are married with five percent are cohabiting.

In Sweden, 35pc of adults in this age category are married with 23pc cohabiting.

Cohabitation is also high in France, where 26pc of those aged between 18-49 are cohabiting, compared to 39pc who are married.

By comparison, cohabitation is practically non-existent in the Asian countries surveyed. Only in the Philippines is there any recorded level of cohabitation, with four percent of those aged 18-49 cohabiting.  

In the four Middle Eastern countries surveyed, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Turkey, there was no recorded cohabitation among this age group.

However, levels of cohabitation were very high in South America. In Colombia, 39pc of adults aged 18-49 were cohabiting, nearly twice the number of married people in that age group.

In Peru and Nicaragua, 30pc of those in that age group were cohabiting, roughly equivalent with the percentage who were married.

The figures show that across Western countries, attitudes to childbearing outside marriage were relatively permissive. Eighty percent of Spainards believe it is alright for a single woman to have a child in the absence of stable relationship with the father. The comparable figure for the US was 52pc, while 62pc of French people agreed.

By comparison, only two percent of Egyptians agreed with this, while 10pc of Turks and 15pc of Filipinos agreed.