The State of Family Research in Ireland

Changes in definition of family, economic opportu- nity, and demographics of the population of Ireland have been major factors in shaping family research in recent decades. Although divorce is constitutionally prohibited in Ireland, separations and non-marital births are indicators of family structural change in Ireland as in the rest of Europe. Research on aging and on rural families has been related to the need for policies to address issues of economic as well as social importance. The need now is to link these policy-driven investigations as well as future research into coherent theoretical analyses and to launch interdisciplinary collaborations.