Only half of Ireland's Gen Z will ever marry, Iona Institute projects
A new report from the Iona Institute, a Catholic social research body in Ireland, estimates that 52 percent of women and 50 percent of men born from 1995 onward will marry at some point in their lives
Only half of Ireland's Generation Z will ever marry, according to projections in a new report from the Iona Institute, a Catholic social research organization. The report, titled "The Collapse of Marriage Among Gen Z," tracks marriage trends in Ireland and documents a sustained and accelerating decline that falls hardest on those born from 1995 onward.
The report compares generations. Among people born in 1965, 49 percent were already married in their late twenties. Among those born in 1995, the figure for the same age range is 12 percent, a drop of nearly 40 percentage points.
Lifetime projections for Generation Z
For Generation Z as a whole, which the study defines as people born from 1995 onward, the report estimates that 52 percent of women and 50 percent of men will marry at some point in their lives.
The decline does not begin with the youngest group, the report says, but follows a structural trend that starts with the cohorts born in 1960. Of those born that year, 83 percent were married by age 45. Among those born in 1980, the share had fallen to 68 percent. Far fewer marriages take place after age 45 than before it, the report says, which gives particular weight to the rates recorded at younger ages when projecting future marriage patterns.
Behind the figures, the report points to deep changes in Irish society: shifting life expectations, greater economic independence for women, access to contraception, later departure from the family home, and growing acceptance of life without marriage as a normal option.
Based on reporting by Laura Clavería for Iglesia Noticias. This article was translated and adapted from Spanish with the help of artificial intelligence.
