The Irish Family

Changes in the Family

Because of Ireland’s prominent Roman Catholic roots, the family structure has not changed as drastically as it has in other countries. In other countries, divorce rates are extremely high, people get married at young ages, and families are typically small. Ireland was slow to follow the trends, but within the last few decades there have been many changes within the family.

The number of children in each family has decreased drastically. From 1946 to 1971 the size of the average family has declines by almost 10%. Catholic homes still typically have larger homes than non-Catholics and the middle class families have the smallest families in all religious groups.  The total number of births declined from a peak of 74,400 in 1980 to a low of 47,900 in 1994. Divorce is becoming much more accepted and unmarried mothers are becoming more common. Over 30 % of births were outside marriage in 2002 compared with 5 % in 1980. The figure has been steadily increasing in recent years.There are also less people getting married. The number of marriages declined from a peak of 21 800 in 1980 to 15 600 in 1995.There are many single parent homes and others where children divide time between two divorced parents.

As Ireland’s family structure has changed, so have the family values and family roles. Women’s roles have changed as they began going into the work force. They are no longer expected to be a housewife and take on the nurturing motherly role.   For men it is now acceptable to be sensitive and compassionate to their children as well as taking an active role within the family.  Many more men are taking a larger role in raising the children and helping out with housework. Children are now seen as competent rather than innocent, acknowledging their values, roles, and abilities within society.

How These Changes Affect Children

These changes affected children in many ways including what they do with time with parents, how much time they spend on chores, and control in parent-child relationships. Children in Ireland tend to spend more time with their mothers than fathers on a regular basis. More than three fourths of young children identify their mother as their confidante figure.  A research study by Dr. Dympna Devine found the different activites that children do with their fathers compared to their mothers on a daily basis: 

Activities Children Do With Their Mother

Activities Children Do With Their Father


In the home, children have an active role in the family and contribute through many household chores.  More girls than boys are involved in household cores, but boys have activities that they help with as well. Girls are more likely to be cleaning, making and preparing meals, and setting and clearing the table while boys are more likely to be doing yard work instead of household labor. Both boys and girls were expected to help take care of the family pets and go shopping.  The participation in these activities shows an increase in independence given to children.

Parent-child relationships have also changed, giving children more independence. Another study by Dr. Dympna Devine found that parents are letting children have a say in things that have to do with their lives. Some of the things they work out together are bedtime, what they eat, hairstyles, and their friends.  Parents in Ireland no longer just tell children what to do, they talk about it and the children are able to voice their opinions and explain why they feel the way that they do.


References

Archard, David W. 2003. Children, Family and The State. England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.

Council of Europe. 2004. "Ireland." Retrieved April 26, 2006  (http://www.coe.int/).

Devine, Dympna, Maire Nic Ghiolla Phadraig, and James Deegan. 2004. "Time for Children - Time for Change? Children's Rights and Welfare in Ireland During a Period of Economic Growth." Pp. 211-274 in Children's Welfare in Ageing Europe, vol. 1, edited by An-Magritt Jensen, Asher Ben-Arieh, Cinzia Conti, Dagmar Kutsar, Maire Nic Ghiolla Phadraig, and Hanne Warming Nielsen. Tondheim, Norway: Norwegian Centre for Child Research.

Devine, Dympna. 2002. "Children's Citizenship and the Structuring of Adult-Child Relations in the Primary School." Childhood 9:303-20.