The United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution 47/237 of 20 September 1993, proclaimed that the 15th of May of every year shall be observed as the International Day of families.

The theme for this year is ‘Mothers and Families: Challenges in a changing World’.

The total number of households from the 2007 European Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC 2007) was estimated at 141,390, with a total of 403,560 persons. The majority of these households (60 per cent) had no dependant children. Of the households with dependant children, 7 per cent where single parent households with at least one dependant child, while households with 2 adults having one dependant child and those with two dependant children accounted for 27 per cent and 29 per cent respectively. The number of married persons amounted to 197,100, accounting for 49 per cent of the total number of persons living in households.

The number of marriages in 2008 totalled 2,482, with the most common age for getting married being within the 25-29 age-group for both brides and grooms. This accounted for 43 per cent and 44 per cent of the total marriages for brides and grooms respectively. Other significant counts were registered among the 20-24 age-group for brides (24 per cent) and 30-34 age-group for grooms (24 per cent).

Total registered live births amounted to 4,127. The most common age-groups for mothers were the 25-29 and 30-34 year-old categories, accounting for 34 per cent and 31 per cent of the total respectively. The most common age-group for fathers was between 30 and 34, at 35 per cent of the total. This was followed by the 25-29 year-old age group, at 24 per cent of the total. A quarter of the total live births occurred outside marriage last year, with an increase of nearly 9 per cent over the count registered in 2007.

According to the Labour Force Survey, the total number of mothers and fathers who were either employed or seeking work during the first half of 2008 amounted to 86,840. Of these, 3,670 were unemployed, with an unemployment rate of 4.2 per cent. Married mothers and fathers accounted for 90 per cent of the total number of parents. The unemployment rate amongst these persons stood at 3.9 per cent.

The at-risk-of-poverty rate from SILC 2007 was estimated at 14 per cent. This rate stood at 13 per cent among persons living in households without dependant children and 15 per cent amongst those living in households with dependant children. Persons living in single parent households were found to be most at-risk-of-poverty.

Families benefitted from a total of almost €625 million from social benefits during 2008, an increase of over 9 per cent when compared to the previous year. Substantial increments were recorded in children’s allowance, with an increase of €11 million, or 38 per cent, when compared to the previous year.

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