ATTITUDES TO marriage, parenting and divorce will be among the subjects of a major new research project that aims to capture the “first comprehensive picture of family life in Ireland in the 21st century”.
The two-year study, funded by the Family Support Agency, will examine the reasons behind the changing structure of the family since the 1970s.
The agency operates under the aegis of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Aideen Mooney, the agency’s head of research, said there was plenty of demographic information on trends such as the falling birthrate and the popularity of cohabitation, but not the reasons behind them. “This will give us an insight into the reasons for these changes.”
The two-stage study will take two years to complete and is being led by Dr Margret Fine-Davis, a social psychologist at Trinity College Dublin.
Pat Bennett, the agency’s chief executive, said the organisation’s work would be informed by the findings.
The agency is also funding the ESRI to carry out a study on trends and patterns in family formation and breakdown, based on data from the Central Statistics Office over the past 20 years.
