60% of couples planning to have children would have done so before now if it wasn’t for the ongoing housing crisis, a new survey has found, with 36% saying they would have had a child in the past three years but didn’t.
In addition, 84% of adults surveyed believe that the housing crisis in Ireland is causing some couples to delay getting married and/or have children – a figure rising to 89% for women, while 79% of men hold that view.
The research, commissioned by Accord, the Catholic marriage care service, and carried out by Amárach Research, also found that 54% of those aged 25-34 years plan to get married and/or have children, but that 48% of couples planning to get married would have married before now if it wasn’t for the housing situation.
33% of those surveyed told researchers that they would have married in the past three years but didn’t.
Accord said that, in the context of the continuing decline in marriage rates as reported by the Central Statistics Office, and the ongoing housing crisis, they had commissioned the survey to determine the level of correlation between couples deciding to marry and have children, and the availability of housing supply.
Tony Shanahan, Director of Accord CLG, said the survey’s headline results are “significant and striking” – and that they reveal the extent to which the lack of housing supply is impacting on the decision-making of couples who wish to get married and have children.
“This has serious social implications now and into the future. Possible practical responses might include Government acting to streamline and simplify the planning process to amend housing regulations for older properties to bring vacant units back into use.”
“The hope that young people hold for a married life together, and to start a family, needs to be underpinned by certainty in a functioning and affordable housing market. However, there is no single housing market. Different demographics have different needs, and public policy should incentivise development initiatives geared towards the provision of accommodation solutions appropriate to each demographic,” he said.
The Coalition has come under fire for claiming that 40,000 homes would be built in 2024, when CSO figures published after the November election showed that number came to just 30,330 homes.
Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath said that the survey results were shocking but not surprising, and that the government was “absolutely failing young people who wanted to get married and have a family”.
“They are driving our young people – our future – out of the country, and this survey shows the extent of the damage being done,” the Independent TD said. “In rural Ireland a big part of the problem is that young people are being refused permission to build on family land. 60% of young people saying they can’t have children because of the housing crisis is an emergency – one that the government needs to deal with immediately instead of promising houses that haven’t even been built.”
He said that the drain of young people from the country due to the housing crisis “spelled disaster” for the Irish economy, for Irish families and culture, and for the country’s future prosperity.
The Independent TD said that the Dáil was now an echo chamber – and one that refused to acknowledge “the elephant the room in regard to housing, which is immigration”.
“We’re bringing in people in huge numbers, while we have no housing for our own young people,” he said. “The denial of this reality in the Dáil is shocking.”
Yesterday, Accord also issued its report on its marriage preparation courses which 5,194 couples participated in for 2024, compared to 7,281 couples in 2023.
Bishop of Kildare, Denis Nulty, said that “a good Marriage Preparation Programme can help a couple grow in self-awareness and awareness of each other. It offers insights into what makes a marriage a good marriage and what sustains goodness and being the best husband and wife a couple can be, for the good of each other and if blessed with children, for the good of them too. The parish community welcomes the involvement of young newlyweds into the life of their parish.”
“Today I am very conscious that for some couples the pressure to own their own home, hold down a secure job, have a promising career path – these pressures can be very challenging and demanding,” he said.
“The reported queue on Saturday morning last of several first time buyers as new houses in a Kildare estate were snapped up within minutes of their launch, shows the worry this is to many young couples. Having the security of a home is an essential start for any couple, for any family.”