The overwhelming majority of Irish people (92 per cent) believe that children have the right to be raised by a mother and father where possible, according to a new Red C poll commissioned by The Iona Institute.
The survey also showed that 53 per cent of people agreed that marriage was better for society than cohabitation, with 23 per cent disagreeing and 24 per cent having no opinion. Sixty-one per cent believe marriage is better for children than cohabitation, while 18 per cent disagreeing.
Reacting to the poll, Treoir, the Federation of Services for Unmarried Parents and their Children, said it agreed that children had a right to both parents where possible.
A spokeswoman said that Treoir encouraged parents who were not living together “to develop ‘shared parenting” relationships, where this was possible.
David Quinn, the Director of the Iona Institute, said the poll showed that there is “still extremely strong support for the notion that children have a right to a mother and father, where possible.
Ireland faced a number of key family related issues in the coming year, he continued. “The first is whether we still believe marriage is of special benefit to society, and especially to children, and therefore whether it should continue to receive special support.
“The second, connected with this, is whether we still believe that there is a special value in children being raised by a mother and father. The family diversity viewpoint challenges this position.
“Finally we must decide whether or not we think the State should be given more power than it currently has to decide what is in a child’s best interests, or whether this should be left up to parents, other than in exceptional cases involving abuse or neglect. This is the issue at the heart of the debate about children’s rights.”
The poll also demonstrated strong backing for the notion that parents rather than the State or any other outside organisation ought to decide what is best for their children, unless there is abuse or neglect.”
He added that the poll showed that, despite the huge rise in cohabitation a majority of the public continued to believe that marriage was better for society and for children than cohabitation.
This backing, he continued “lends powerful support to the current practice of favouring marriage in the law.”
According to the 2006 census, there were 121,000 cohabiting couples in the State then, a 400 per cent increase on 1996 figures. Data shows that marriage, on average, provides children with far more stability than cohabitation. According to the British Millennium Cohort Study, only 10pc of married couples will have broken up by the time their child is five, compared with 25pc of cohabiting couples.
Only 35pc of British children born into a cohabiting union will live with both parents throughout their childhood, compared with 70pc born to married couples.
In addition, the average length in Britain of a marriage that ends in divorce is 11.5 years compared with just two years for a live-in relationship. Irish data also shows that only 25 per cent of cohabiting couples are still cohabiting after seven years. The rest have either broken up or married.
The Red C poll consisted of a telephone interview with a random sample of 1,009 adults, aged 18 and over, between December 1st and 3rd last. Interviews were conducted across the State with the margin of error on the sample size of plus or minus 3.2 per cent, according to the researchers.
The poll showed Fine Gael supporters were more supportive of marriage, followed by Fianna Fáil, Labour, Sinn Féin and Green supporters. Whereas 53 per cent agreed that “in general marriage is better for society than couples living together”, this rose to 68 per cent among Fine Gael supporters. A total of 233 Fine Gael supporters were included in the poll. The margin of error for a sub-sample of this size of +/- 7 per cent.
