Nuclear family 'a myth', says new report

Most people do not want the traditional nuclear family as a model for policy-makers, a new Government study finds.

The report, Families and Family Life in Ireland: Challenges for the Future, also finds people want more active State intervention in and support for families.

Launching the report in Dublin yesterday, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, ruled out a review by her Department of the Constitution's definition of the family. "My Department does not deal with the legal definitions. That would be beyond the remit of my Department. I deal with the needs and supports of the family," she said.

Ms Coughlan said the report, which was written by Prof Mary Daly of Queen's University, Belfast, would have a major influence on family policy in coming years, and she would bring policy proposals based on its findings to fruition "before year-end". An examination of issues that arose at a series of five consultation forums across the State last year, the study looks at four main areas: parenting and childhood, reconciliation of employment and family life, relationship difficulties, and the family as carer.

Introducing her report, Prof Daly said the idea of the nuclear family "is a myth". "What we were hearing was that the understanding of what is the family needs to be extended."

She said family increasingly consisted of three generations, with grandparents involved in providing a range of services and supports, including income support. There were more and more households where the adult children were remaining well into their adulthood, she continued.

There were lone parents, same-sex parents, unmarried parents, widening values and different cultural beliefs all pushing the boundaries of what was "family" in modern Ireland. She was also struck by how many people didn't have the family life they wanted. Prof Daly said: "The extent to which people feel in control of what is happening, even in their own families, is limited.

"People feel family life is not valued at policy level. One person at one of the forums asked, 'When was the last time we heard the Government refer to Ireland as a society and not an economy - Ireland Inc'." She said it was abundantly clear that parents felt the need for much greater support than they were receiving, and that they feel their authority being frequently undermined by the media.

Concern was expressed consistently that the work done by parents in the home had been devalued in recent years, that the quality of childhood was diminishing and that young lives were increasingly being shaped by the demands on their parents. "Time-poverty" was blamed for increasing relationship difficulties, not just between spouses and partners, but all family members. This was caused by a combination of factors, including both parents working outside the home, and the impact of television and technology on people's willingness to communicate.

"There was a strong sense that care for the ill and elderly family members is under-provided for at present," said Prof Daly.

"This too is something that affects women especially. People and voluntary organisations are becoming burnt out. Their need for support has never been greater."