Quarter of births to unwed mothers

A quarter of births last year were to unwed mothers, an increase of nine per cent over the previous year, figures released by the National Statistics Office have shown.

Issued to mark the International Day of Families, the NSO figures estimated that the at-risk-of-poverty rate was 14 per cent: 13 per cent among persons living in households without dependant children and 15 per cent among those with.

Persons in single-parent households were found to be most at risk of poverty.

Of the households with dependant children, seven per cent were single parents of at least one child while households with two adults and one dependant child and those with two dependant children accounted for 27 and 29 per cent respectively.

The number of marriages in 2008 totalled 2,482, with the most common age being within the 25-29 bracket for both brides and grooms.

Total registered live births amounted to 4,127, and the most common age group for mothers was 25-29 and 30-34, 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 - 35 per cent of the total - followed by the 25-29 bracket.

Families benefited from a total of almost €625 million from social benefits during 2008, an increase of over nine 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.