Ireland has highest proportion of families with three or more kids in EU
Out of 202 million private households in the 27-country bloc, just under a quarter included children last year, according to information collated by Eurostat, the EU statistics office.
Advertisement
The proportion of households with children was highest in Slovakia at 35.6 per cent, while Ireland was the next highest at 31 per cent.
The countries with the lowest proportion of households with children were Finland (18 per cent), Lithuania (19.6 per cent) and Germany (20.1 per cent).
Of the households across the bloc that included children, almost half (49.8 per cent) had only one child. Another 37.6 per cent had two children, and only one in eight (12.6 per cent) had three or more.
In Ireland, however, more than one in five (20.6 per cent) of the households with children had three or more kids, according to the statistics that were published by Eurostat earlier on Monday
Advertisement
The country with the next highest proportion was Sweden (18.1 per cent), followed by Finland (17.4 per cent). At the other end of the table, just 6.2 per cent of households with children in Portugal had three or more kids.
Earlier this year, data published by Eurostat revealed that birth rates in the European Union had plunged by 5.4 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year – the biggest annual decline since 1961.
A total of 3.67 million babies were born in the bloc in 2023. The fertility rate was 1.38 live births per woman, down from 1.46 in 2022.
It followed a downward trend in the EU, where 5.1 million babies were born in 1990. That was the last time that the figure exceeded five million.
In 2022, it dropped below four million for the first time.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
EuroMillions results and numbers: National Lottery draw tonight, July 8
THE draw for tonight's National Lottery EuroMillions (July 8, 2025) has taken place, with life-changing cash prizes at stake. Check the results to see if you have just won a fortune and bagged enough to start that jet-set lifestyle you always dreamed of. 2 Every EuroMillions ticket also bags you an automatic entry into the UK Millionaire Maker, which guarantees at least one player will pocket £1million in every draw. You can find out if you're a winner by checking your ticket against tonight's numbers below. Tonight's National Lottery EuroMillions winning numbers are: 01, 08, 09, 18, 50 and the Lucky Stars are: 01, 05. The UK Millionaire Maker Selection winner is: MSDV09512 Tonight's National Lottery Thunderball winning numbers are: 01, 09, 26, 30, 31 and the Thunderball is 07. TOP 5 BIGGEST LOTTERY WINS IN THE WORLD £1.308 billion (Powerball) on January 13 2016 in the US, for which three winning tickets were sold, remains history's biggest lottery prize £1.267 billion (Mega Million) a winner from South Carolina took their time to come forward to claim their prize in March 2019 not long before the April deadline £633.76 million (Powerball draw) from a winner from Wisconsin £625.76 million (Powerball) Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee, Massachusetts claimed the jackpot in August 2017 £575.53 million (Powerball) A lucky pair of winners scooped the jackpot in Iowa and New York in October 2018 The first EuroMillions draw took place on February 7, 2004, by three organisations: France's Française des Jeux, Loterías y Apuestas del Estado in Spain and the Camelot in the UK. One of the UK's biggest prizes was up for grabs on December, 4, 2020 with a whopping £175million EuroMillions jackpot, which would make a winner richer than Adele. Another previous UK winner who's whole life was altered with their jackpot was a player who wanted to remain anonymous on October 8, 2019. They walked off with a cool £170,221,000. Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs in Scotland, netted a huge £161,653,000 in the July 12, 2011. Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Haverhill, Suffolk, picked up £148,656,000 after they played the draw on August, 10, 2012, while Jane Park became Britain's youngest lottery winner when she scooped up £1 million in 2013. The odds of winning any EuroMillions prize are 1 in 13. Could tonight's jackpot of £64million see you handing in your notice and swapping the daily commute for slurping champagne on a super yacht or lying back on a private beach in the Bahamas? 2
Times
4 hours ago
- Times
The next big thing in books? The ‘ceasefire babies' of Northern Ireland
The generation of people born in Northern Ireland in the 1990s are known, with varying degrees of affection, as 'ceasefire babies'. They are united by being too young to remember the Troubles — but they have got their own troubles to contend with. Suicide rates in Northern Ireland have jumped since the conflict ended. (In fact, 3,709 people killed themselves in the 16 years after the Good Friday agreement, compared with 3,600 people who were killed during the 30 years of fighting.) And in the absence of an armed struggle, there can be a kind of identity vacuum: if your parents fought for what they believed was right, are you supposed to just live an ordinary life — and be grateful for it? The rap group Kneecap have recently presented one solution to this problem: to take the anger of their forebears and reinvent it for a new generation. This astonishing short story collection represents another: to process those feelings of anger, disappointment and rootlessness through fiction.
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
Summer lamb and vegetable stew
This is my take on a classic Irish stew, but with a summery twist using seasonal vegetables such as baby turnips and young carrots – whatever you've grown or can get your hands on. You can throw in some small new potatoes too, in true Irish style. If you're a gardener, it's a brilliant way to use up those tiny veggies when thinning out your beds – I did exactly that with my radishes (planted them a bit too close together) and they cooked up just like baby turnips. I like to serve this with a zippy green sauce made from soft herbs – think parsley, mint, basil – blended with a splash of oil, a bit of mustard and some capers for kick. Ingredients For the stew 1 tbsp olive oil 800g lamb neck fillet, cut into 2cm pieces 1.2 litres lamb or chicken stock 2 bay leaves A few sprigs of thyme about 12 young carrots about 12 baby turnips or radishes ½ hispi cabbage, cut into 4 wedges crusty bread, to serve (optional) For the green sauce handful of mint, basil and parsley (stalks and leaves) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp Dijon mustard 1 tbsp capers juice of ½ lemon Method Step Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy sauté pan and brown 800g lamb neck fillet, cut into 2cm pieces for about 3 minutes, turning regularly to colour the meat all over. Step Bring to a rolling boil, skim the surface and season. Step Simmer over a low heat for about 1 hour – skimming any foam off the top as it's cooking. Step Check for tenderness – the lamb should be soft and pull-away tender. Continue simmering if necessary. Step Meanwhile, to make the green sauce, lightly blitz a handful of mint, basil and parsley (stalks and leaves), 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, 1tbsp capers and the juice of ½ lemon in a food processor or blender – you don't want to whizz it too much as you still want some texture. Step Once the meat is nearly cooked, add 12 young carrots and 12 baby turnips or radishes (left whole) and cover with a lid, simmering for about 10 minutes until they are nearly tender.
