A lowering of support for marriage is likely to lead to a further lowering of the birthrate, according to a leading economist.

David Higgins was speaking as the Government announced it will plough ahead with referendums on family, gender and the protection of mothers in the home. This would involve removing the special standing of marriage in the Constitution.

Mr Higgins said, “if our society is now ambivalent towards marriage, it surely follows that we will have less of it. We are already seeing this in falling marriage rates. It must also surely follow that the birth rate will continue to notch lower”.

He noted that CSO Census data for 2022 show that 29pc of married households have three or more children, as opposed to 19pc of cohabiting households and 15% of single parents.

The result for society, he says, will be a stark choice: “The generation that follows ours will either face much higher taxes (a heavier burden on fewer working people), or the services provided to our (now older) generation will shrink.

“A referendum which weakens the standing of marriage in the constitution may be a symbolic marker of this coming economic challenge”.