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IRELAND’S BIRTH RATE has been falling each year for the last eight years but the country still has the second-highest fertility rate in Europe.
In 2016 there were just under 64,000 live births in this country, down from about 71,000 in 2007. Last year’s live birth figure translates to 13.7 births per 1,000 of the population.
The figures were contained in a new publication by the Department of Health called Health in Ireland Key Trends 2017.
It pointed out that the decline in birth rates was less about a reduction in fertility rates and more connected to a decline in the number of women of child-bearing age.
The birth figures are used to calculate the fertility rate, which is the average number of children a woman could expect to have.
Ireland’s fertility rate therefore comes in at 1.82, putting Ireland behind only France in the fertility stakes.
The 76 page Department of Health booklet outlines a whole range of stats surrounding Ireland’s health and the health service.
As well as the figures surrounding birth, it also looked at mortality figures and showed that life expectancy in Ireland has increased by 2.5 years over the past decade.
This has put Ireland’s life expectancy above the EU average but also points to issues Ireland will face with an ageing population.
For example, Ireland’s population of people above 65 years has increased by 34.3% since 2008 and is growing by 20,000 people per year.
The numbers of people in this age group is expected to almost double in the next 20 years, with the greatest proportional increase in the 85+ age group.
This ageing population will put additional demands on the health service, something Minister Simon Harris says he is aware of.
“The number of people aged 65 and over will grow from one-fifth to over one-third of the working population over the next two decades which will have implications for how we fund our health services,” the minister said upon publication of the research.
In order to be able to provide high-quality services as our population continues to age, we need to have the ability to assess the performance of the health system in a way that ensures that valuable and finite health care resources are used in the most efficient way possible and that people can access high-quality care in a reasonable time.
The report also outlined statistics on the survival rates for various diseases.
It showed that, while survival rates for cervical, breast, colon and rectal cancer have all improved over the last decade, the survival rates in Ireland remain lower than the EU average in all those cancers except rectal cancer.
Health in Ireland Key Trends 2017 is available to read in full here >
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The dredges of society are always very fertile anyway.
@JJ:
Give it a break
@JJ:
Pity the Journal did away with Red Thumbs.I award you 100 for ignorance.
@JJ: Like your ma? Couldn’t even teach you how to spell. Sad.
@JJ: Can these dregs spell?
@Aine O Connor: People who can’t support themselves are having children wholesale to claim child benefit among other things. Big problem in this country and others. Can you not see that? The people who can afford children on the other hand are not having enough of them.
@Aine O Connor: It’s you who is ignorant
@JJ: I assume by dregs you mean poor women. The poor women who can’t afford to travel abroad and are forced into parenthood? Well hopefully we will be able to give these women a choice next year.
@JJ: totally agree with you. Why do people have children and they’re unemployed and have no money ? And then think they deserve a house for free.
@Deborah Behan: I think he’s talking about the wasters and dole merchants who pop them out without a second thought.
@Deborah Behan: Are they all forced into pregnancy?
@JJ:
So you and people like you think you have the right to decide how many children a poor person should have.
If you think about it what you are actually saying is that poor people’s children are not wanted by society whereas the children of the better off are welcomed.
Great people were born and reared in poor families and excelled in all areas of society.
I meet with your approval as I have seven adult children , who were born into a middle class family. All are in good jobs and live in Ireland, and bought and paid for their own homes.
I do not judge people who are not as fortunate as I am .
@Aine O Connor: If you know you cannot adequately provide for children it is wrong to willingly have them.
@JJ: any stats to back that up. If there is ant truth to it it’s less that working class people are having lots of kids but middle class status and money adoring snobs don’t think family is of any value
@Fred Croydon:
What you are saying is just because the parents are unemployed and on welfare their children will automatically turn out the same , It ain’t necessarily so.
@JJ:
It is also wrong to set yourself up as judge and jury of other people’s circumstances.
@JJ: Your mother should have swallowed…
@JJ: Are they counting the number of non nationals born here also?
@Seamus Mc Meel: If you’re dumb enough not to understand the points it’s your mother who should have swallowed.
@Fred Croydon: I don know where you live but where I live near a council estate I know many families on welfare and lone parents whose children are in third level education. Their parents are determined that their children will have a better chance in life than they did. Some people did not get very many opportunities in life due to various circumstances. I worked with unemployed people for many years and the common denominator was they left school too early thus reducing their chances of a good income.
People who are working and only earning the minimum wage are poor too. Employers have a moral responsibility to pay people a living wage.
@Deborah Behan: seriously now the ones you’ve just described are not the ones who ysua2lly want an abortion..
@Siobhán Ni Mhurchú: *usually
@JJ: are you relating to our Irish dregs? does that include other nationalities Living here? I bet you don’t reply Mr blue shirt
The data may indicate its linked to less women of child bearing age but the reason for that is people arent having as many kids when they are young simply due to the obscene cost of childcare, the cost is practically a 2nd mortgage and successcive governments have done nothing to address this
@Ian McNally: If childcare is subsidised by the taxpayer, houseprices will rise even further meaning those kids will be in childcare longer as couples work longer hours to pay even more highly inflated prices.
Won’t be long before we are like the US where you work 13 hours a day, and pay 2k a MONTH in health insurance.
Subsidising childcare will destroy childhoods, not help them.
@Niall Sullivan:
Healthcare is nowhere near 2k a month in the US. It ranges from about 250 to 600 per month depending on the state.
@Nick Allen: if that’s correct then it’s pretty cheap compared to Irish healthcare prices
@Ian McNally: Our culture of materialism and debt contracts has resulted in 2 out of home working parents which has severely reduced our ability to have children. It would be much better to settle for less and have one stay at home parent or divide the working week equally to eliminate the cost of childcare.
The financial burden of modern living including childcare costs has huge implications for society as those with qualifications and trades will reduce in number whereas those who have all services of childcare paid for while at home will increase in number.
@Ranty McCrank: many are abandoning marriage altogether because of draconian divorce laws and a low cost benefit ratio.
@Nick Allen: I’m a school teacher and my health insurance is actually $2K per month for the family plan.
@Ian McNally: doesn’t stop some from have loads of kids.
@Nick Allen:
Healthcare costs / insurance in the US are significantly higher than in Europe. It’s not up for debate. It’s viewed by corporate America (and a portion of the gullible electorate)as a commercial commodity. It’s Un-American to consider “socialised” health provision as anything else but a commie invention that denies uninsured citizens the right to suffer or expire earlier than they might have planned. Simple really.
@Nick Allen: used to work in health insurance. spoke to americans on occasion who would want to buy health insurance here, either for themselves after they moved, or for a relative/parent that lived here. they were often shocked at how affordable it was here. i’d work out a plan that would cost about €1000-1200 for the year, giving all the cover they wanted.. and they thought that was the monthly price, based on what they would pay for similar cover in the US. they would be very surprised at how low the excess was as well, with the highest being €500.. over there, the excess, known as the deductible, can be as much as €10k before insurance kicks in..
so yeah… if you’re paying less than €1k per month over there.. the excess will be outrageous..
a friend of mine moved to america a number of years back.. he pays about €2k per month for his insurance, but has no deductible.. prices over there ARE insane.
Big difference between Irish people and people in Ireland. African or Polish women aren’t Irish for example but them giving birth here would skew our statistics.
@Ciara Ni Mhurchu: give it a rest
@Ciara Ni Mhurchu: I get what you mean alright but I’m sure the stats refer to the total numbers born in Ireland regardless of mothers nationality. So the total birth rate is given.
@Mark Gerard Lochlain: The mothers nationality determines whether or not they’re included in the ‘irish people’ cohort.
@Fake Avast: That’s the point. If they’re not Irish, are they included because they shouldn’t be.
@Fake Avast: That’s the point. If they’re not Irish, are they included because they shouldn’t be.
@Ciara Ni Mhurchu: Totally agree with this.
@Ciara Ni Mhurchu: if the child is born in Ireland then it is included in the total number of births. YES!
What is the birth rate of actual Irish population given that our “new Irish” are banging out bambinos at a greater rate than us? With the average below the replication rate of 2.1 there won’t be many Paddy’s left in a few generations, especially when we are about to lower it further with abortion. Population replacement 101
@Misanthrope: we all came from settlers at some point, where does it stop or start at the Vikings, Norman’s, Brits ? Are they now Irish and if so will the most recent settlers ever be Irish ?
@Jamíe Costello: How’s it working in other countries? Let’s look to Sweden, France….
Hmmmm whats the word missing? Integration.
@Jamíe Costello: that old sterile argument
@Misanthrope: I’m actually not in favour of mass immigration or emigration I’m just curious as to your thoughts on the matter ?
@Misanthrope: Any evidence to support that claim there?
@Ed Magnier: 500,000 passports issued to non nationals in the past five yrs, a full ten.per cent of the population. Fewer Irish as a percentage of total population than previously so unless immigration is going to stop quite clearly the trend will continue.
@Jamíe Costello: I’ve no problem with immigration.if they are vetted, have skills we need and can.deminsrtate they can integrate. I have a problem with uncontrolled immigration and immigration to make up for an insufficient birth rate here. We live in a society where one party in a relationship has to basically choose between working and having kids unless the are high earners. We need more family friendly policies but of course it’s cheaper to import people than reproduce.
@Misanthrope: How many of those were given to British nationals from both the North and the rest of Britain? Again, post evidence when you make these claims, if you want anyone to take you seriously.
Interesting new definition and use of the word ‘fertility’
@Nick Allen: Yes, beyond odd. “The fertility rate that a woman can expect to have”. Not connected to ability to get pregnant or the actual number of children born or to men in any way but to expectations.
My neighbour has four kids but theyre all in care with Tusla. She got her ovaries tied at taxpayers expense so she cant have any more…. Children are exoensive thats for sure. More kids in care here than other EU countries. An important stat the story fails to mention
@siobhan pat mulcahy: maybe this would be helped if women had a choice? #repealthe8th
@Deborah Behan: Easier and faster to gas them now to save the state ongoing costs + same outcome as #repealthe8th so double win for Ireland.
@siobhan pat mulcahy: Hi Siobhan, do you have any evidence to support your claim that Ireland has more kids in care than ‘other EU countries’? I’d be interested in reading it, cheers.
What would be much more accurate to say is births in Ireland of those living here. They are not per se indigenous Irish population bearing children. Irish women are terrified of having children in the current climate which is family & child UNfriendly. Irish women must work work work. Go to any Irish maternity hospital and you will see many of the prolific ladies who are having babies here are not Irish. I don’t know why this fact is not addressed. We offer a future to immigrants, but abortion, homelessness, unaffordable childcare and emigration to Irish. Up to 100,000 Irish emigrated in this GREAT recovery. So the 4.7 million swell in our population reflects only a very comprehensive plantation.
French women are in the same boat, many citing economics as the reason for choosing to abort their babies. But certain groups of immigrants in France are statistically shown to have up to 5 children. This is what’s driving up the rate of births in France. Whether they all identify as *French would be another matter.
Make Ireland more family friendly so Irish women aren’t terrified to have children. If it can be done for immigrants, surely it’s discriminatory Irish don’t enjoy this great Future Ireland offers all and sundry too.
@Cathy Hunt-Tyrrell: Amazing Cathy, almost every Irish woman I know has had at least 2 kids by 35, and as a result of taking nieces and nephews to playgrounds in Cork and Dublin, I have noticed the vast majority of kids in these places would be considered Irish, by what I’m assing is your strict criteria for that term. Fascinating about France, do you have any evidence you could point us too so we can check that, would also be nice to see evidence of your claim that Irish women are terrified of having kids, my own anecdotal evidence says otherwise, but of course, anecdotal evidence is not enough to base a decision on.
@Ed Magnier: irish here, and refusing to ever have kids. never wanted them, but the cost just adds to the certainty. kids would leave me unemployed and homeless, as i’d have no one to look after them, and no way to afford a place.
i’m 30, and a virgin, simply because i refuse to ever get pregnant. i’m on birth control and trying to get my tubes removed, which is difficult. i’m considered too young in many cases to have made the decision to not have kids.. yet someone who’s 18 is old enough to decide to have them..
if abortion were available here, i probably wouldn’t be *as* terrified of pregnancy, as it would be a sure-fire way of stopping it, if it happened, after taking all other precautions first. it wouldn’t be my first port of call, cause i’d use my birth control, and a condom, and a morning after pill, if needed.. but if they all failed (and i’ve seen that happen), at least i’d still be able to stop the pregnancy!
Our fertility is down to beer and porridge.
@Garreth Byrne: gee! And I thought it was sperm and egg!!!!
@Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: Our bodily secretions require liquid and solid nourishment, hence beer and porridge. Wealthy people might substitute champagne and caviar.
I saw a Roman Catholic religious procession today going up Dawson Street to Moleswort Street in religious regalia, with Rosary beads, singing hymns and asking God to protect the “unborn”.
Roman Catholicism plays a role in the birth rate in Ireland.
@Fiona deFreyne: yeah my poor gran was pregnant for 13 years of her life which took a terrible toll on her body not that the church cared. She was just churning out more Catholics for them! Ironically they’re all atheists now.
@Fiona deFreyne:
No it doesn’t , it is a well known fact that 99% of practicing Catholics ignore the ban on contraception. Families in Ireland have become much smaller , most young parents nowadays have on average between two and four planned children. In the past large families were common , not anymore. They young mothers I meet would not even contemplate having a large family.
@Deborah Behan: all glad to be born though Deborah!
@Fiona deFreyne: what? You claiming priests are impregnating young maidens ?
@Aine O Connor: some Catholics still avoid artificial contraception and use the Billings method. It’s hit and miss but contraception is evil, immoral, sinful and corrupt according to the Roman Catholic Church.
Some Catholics ignore the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church when it suits them but many are still moralizing craw thumpers who seek to interfere in and prescribe for the lives of others. So, your 99% figure is a fan full piece of made up nonsense.
Factors driving a reduction in birth rates are marriages later in life and the essential role of 2 income earners in funding mortgages and rent.
There is also the continuing social stigma, based on religious dogma, of abortion.
78% of the population still define as Roman Cath9lics and the vast majority support the visit of the Pope and his teachings against homosexuality, abortion, contraception and divorce as well as his efforts to downplay clerical child sexual abuse by not disclosing the Vatican records.
That said, the ongoing scandals in the Roman Catholic Church are gradually diminishing its malign influence on Irish society.
@Aine O Connor: do they really? I doubt it. We are a lot more enlightened now than during the 80s
@Fiona deFreyne:
The majority of Catholics in developed countries have rejected the teaching on contraception because they know from first hand experience that natural family planning methods are unreliable. They know that the official teaching is way out of date and are guided by their informed conscience.
In fact I cannot see what the difference is , the intention of natural and artificial contraception is to avoid pregnancy and women are going to choose the most reliable method that suits them.
@Aine O Connor: Then they’re no longer catholic. You can’t pick and choose.
@DaisyChainsaw:
Yes you can if your conscience is clear.
“Ride Sally Ride”
The amount of women I know who have either just had babies or are expecting them in early 2018 is crazy including myself. the majority of us having had babies in 2015-2016.
@Dani O’Hara:
Thats probably reflective of your age and demographic profile more than anything else
@Dani O’Hara: it’s because of your age. Like when you were 20-22 the numbers of 21st party’s you attended as opposed to the number now. Doesn’t mean less people turning 21 it’s just you have gone into a different phase of life.
@Dani O’Hara: Great. Keep it up. We may not be the best at algebraic equations, long division, balancing budgets or trigonometry – but we hold our own with Europe in multiplication tables. Multiplication can be done mentally, without calculators.
@Vincent: well that is the thing it the age profile. But then again isn’t this really about women who are in that profile from ages 20+ to 30+. I see and hear much more women now in that age range then when other friends had children 10+ years ago.
It helps not having a nuclear power plant in Ireland, is that one reason?
@Alois Irlmaier: France is full of nuclear power stations and top of the list
Still too low. We are only at 1.8 , we need to be at 2.1 minimum which is replacement level.
In reality and practical terms, it means families should have 3 kids . To take into account the couples that won’t have kids.
Sadly a huge section of those births are immigrants or the dole class. Hardly contributing to a stable future work force.
Is the inference of the picture that these two paddies in Cardiff are about to be impregnated?
@lavbeer: I reckon they had a baby five years ago and this is the first time they’ve been able to get away for a break?
@lavbeer: The brunette would get it all day
Like Thin Lizzy used to say “Is there any women out there who have any Irish in them? Is there any women that would like some more Irish in them!
Anyone else thing the headline is funny…
“Irish people are more fertile than almost all of our European peers supported by DFS”
lol.
The economic situation must have something to do with it. I see that Portugal,Italy,Greece and Spain are bottom of the list!
Dirty Frenchies
@Aural Abuse: Dourty
@Aural Abuse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_France#Nuclear
And where does all that cooling water go?
Protect the 8th
What the hell does the picture used of young Irish people drinking have to do with fertility?
@Chrissie Weldon:
They probably could not find a photo of mothers and fathers wheeling Buggys. LOL
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