Children have fewer siblings, fathers are more involved and grandparents are more important than ever.
These are among the findings in a new study of the modern Irish family published on Friday by academics from Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University.
The book, Family Rhythms, points to an increasing diversity of family "types", many of which have emerged as families adapt to economic and social change – demonstrating an enduring commitment to the concept of family, say the authors.
Drawing on interviews with 240 members of families, the authors find families have become “smaller, more diverse, with more involved fathers and a greater reliance on grandparent support”.
It also identifies, however, ongoing divisions in educational attainment and opportunity based on class and on single versus two-parent families.
Nuclear family
While the traditional nuclear family continues to prevail, alongside this are numerous other types, including single-parent families, migrant families, mixed-nationality families, gay and lesbian families, couples with no children, living-together-apart (LATs) couples and families split by emigration and long-distance commuting.
Economic crises, as well as greater equality between men and women, underlie the changes.
Where only a few decades ago the typical Irish family was multigenerational - often three generations in one household - and with one male breadwinner, in recent decades, as people marry and begin families later, Irish family patterns have converged with European norms – nuclear, small and often dual-income.
The lives of children have changed considerably, say the authors, and with fewer siblings they often “search upwards for family bonds”, forming strong connections with grandparents.
The increasing importance of grandparents, whether economically with such help as with housing costs or with such non-monetary support as childcare, is noted too.
“This vital role played by grandparents is generally stronger on the maternal than the paternal side,” it says.
There remained, however, “distinct varieties of Irish childhood” based on class and parentage.
Those in dual-parent and professional families “continue to experience advantages in successfully negotiating the Irish education system”.
The greatest concentration of child poverty is in single-parent female-headed households and more affluent families continue to dominate in the “concerted cultivation” of their children’s education, by deliberately investing in extra-curricular activities and grinds.
Split by emigration
David Ralph, co-author of the book and assistant professor at the department of sociology in TCD, notes changes show how families have adapted to survive – including by being split by emigration.
“Emigration does not necessarily point to family breakdown,” he says, “but to how people do what is necessary to keep the family intact – sending home remittances or commuting long distances, so the family may be split up during the week and together at weekends.”
Another emerging “type”, which he said now accounted for about 10 per cent of families in Britain, were couples who lived apart by choice, possibly spending a few nights a week together.
These living-apart-together (LAT) couples, he said, were generally more likely to have sufficient resources to be able to afford such an arrangement.
Mr Ralph's co-authors are Prof Jane Gray of Maynooth University and Ruth Geraghty, of the Centre for Effective Services.
