{"id":216636,"date":"2025-12-29T17:29:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T17:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/216636\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T17:29:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T17:29:08","slug":"ireland-must-encourage-larger-families-and-higher-migration-as-birth-rates-fall-report-warns-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/216636\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland must encourage larger families and higher migration as birth rates fall, report warns \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland<\/a> needs to encourage larger families and welcome more migrants as numbers of children and workers born here fall, according to a report to the Oireachtas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIreland is undergoing a series of demographic shifts and has already passed two notable turning points: \u2018peak baby\u2019 in 2010 and \u2018peak child\u2019 in 2024, both reflecting a sharp and sustained fall in births,\u201d said the Building a Virtuous Demographic Cycle report, published by the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) on Monday. <\/p>\n

The year 2010 marked the point when there were the most births \u2013 77,000 \u2013 in one year while 2024 was the point at which the number of children being born began to decline. <\/p>\n

Births have declined steadily since 2010, to 54,000 last year. <\/p>\n

On current trends, \u201cwithin a decade\u201d the ratio of workers to non-workers \u201cwill narrow\u201d, the NESC said, noting the population is projected to contract by the 2050s. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithout timely, co-ordinated action, these trends will place increasing pressure on public finances, social protection and essential services,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

The council, whose chair is appointed by the Government<\/a>, reports to the Oireachtas on strategic issues relating to the economy and social justice.<\/p>\n

Its report said there are \u201clong-term challenges for labour force renewal, economic vitality and the sustainability of intergenerational supports\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"BirthsBirths have declined steadily since 2010, to 54,000 last year. Photograph: Guillem de Balanzo\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Celtic Tiger baby boom has turned to bust as fertility rates declineOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In a context of immediate pressures on housing, public services and infrastructural deficits, there may be an \u201cimpulse to aim for lower population growth and migration\u201d the report said. This could create a \u201cvicious cycle\u201d, it cautioned. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe effect of this is that fertility declines further, emigration rises, and the population continues to age,\u201d the report said. <\/p>\n

\u201cFiscal and pension pressures mount, constraining future investment and creating a downward spiral of stagnation, as well as intergenerational and regional unfairness. Once established, such dynamics can be very difficult to reverse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, the NESC recommended planning for a \u201cvirtuous cycle\u201d which sees demographic growth \u201cas an opportunity and invests accordingly\u201d.<\/p>\n

This will require investment in services, especially affordable housing, childcare, accessible public transport and creating an employment environment that accommodates care responsibilities and largely untapped cohorts like disabled and older people and lone parents. <\/p>\n

\u201cFertility may be stabilised through stronger family supports: affordable childcare and housing, adequate parental leave, and income and welfare policies that de-risk family formation,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

It called for measures to attract migrants especially younger ones who will want to have children here. \u201cThe core demographic group that typically fuels migration flows \u2013 people aged in their 20s \u2013 is projected to decline and will be increasingly in demand across other ageing societies,\u201d in coming years, it noted. <\/p>\n

\u201cStronger integration policies, long-term settlement opportunities and support for returning emigrants are vital. A social contract of migration is needed where the state invests in integration and communities, and migrants are supported to contribute and settle. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis can strengthen cohesion and public confidence in migration,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

It said that if its recommendations are implemented across Government, the results will include a stabilised population age structure, increased workforce participation, fiscal sustainability and greater capacity to invest in services. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis eases infrastructure pressures, improves the quality of life, and strengthens integration and retention of citizens,\u201d said the report.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Declining birth rate means there will be fewer people of working age to support the growing number of pensionersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland needs to encourage larger families and welcome more migrants as numbers of children and workers born here…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1523,61,60,43,12636],"class_list":["post-216636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-government","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-oireachtas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}