Family Policy in Ireland

The state in Ireland in the early decades of national independence sought to promote the stable, large, two-parent, father-centred family, particularly one founded on the owner-occupied family farm. Property distribution and normative regulation were the main policy instruments used, though some antipoverty income supports were also introduced. Economic modernisation and cultural change after the 1960s caused families to become less patriarchal, smaller, less tied to marriage and more oriented to education and wage/salary labour. A period of normative conflict over contraception, divorce and abortion ensued, and gender equality and the rights of children emerged as policy issues. Family benefits expanded to encompass a wider range of family circumstances and poverty risks, though child poverty remained high. Policy choices between incentivising women’s work outside the home and supporting stay-at-home motherhood were resolved in mixed and sometimes conflicting ways but with a continuing strong focus on cash payments rather than provision of services. These choices remain contentious and, along with poverty alleviation, are key concerns in the current debates on family income support policies. Fiscal pressures arising from the current financial crisis also now exert an influence.