Ireland Social policy must address causes of falling birth rate

6 Jan 2012 | demographics

‘Irish Times’ published an opinion piece quoting that as recently as the early 1970s, women in Ireland had an average of four children, about double today’s number. The Central Statistics Office predicts the downward trend in the average number of children is likely to prevail. When Ireland had the resources to make a commitment to provide childcare at national level, the government chose instead to increase child benefit. Hence they do not have the infrastructure to provide the kind of childcare that helps support women’s employment and childbearing in countries such as France and Denmark – both of which have kept women’s employment high while maintaining a healthy birth rate.

Source : Irish Times