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A female publican, left, chats to customers as they enjoy their last cigarettes in Mick Murphy's pub in Ballymore Eustace in County Kildare, March 28, 2004. Smokers in their local pubs enjoyed final bittersweet puffs as Ireland imposed the world's most comprehensive ban on tobacco in the workplace.
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One of the most significant contributing factors to the Irish economic boom was its ability to increase the number of people in the workplace, most notably women. The number of employed Irish is up 70 percent; the labor force has increased from 1.3 million in 1986 to over 2 million in 2005. Until recently, Irish women were underrepresented in the workforce; now they are there in above average numbers. In school, girls outperform boys, including in math and sciences, and more of them graduate with marketable degrees.
Not surprisingly the influx of women into the workplace has been followed by a decrease in the birth rate and family size. Once famous for its large families, Ireland, now has a fertility rate of 1.86. At the same time, the abortion rate is estimated to have risen from around 4.5 percent of pregnancies in 1980 to over 10 percent in 2002 (most in Britain); over the same period, births out of wedlock have soared from 5 percent to 31 percent of the total. Divorce, legalized only in 1995 after a bitter fight by the Catholic Church to prevent legalization, is becoming more and more popular. There has also been an increase in Irish women living below the poverty line, most notably single parents. Almost one in five Irish children live in poverty for five years or more as well.
Credit: AP/John Cogill
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Briefing
Read about the lifestyles of the "Full-On" nation in this excerpt from the book, THE POPE'S CHILDREN.
Handbook
Learn about the past, present and future of North-South economic ties.
Filmmaker Notes
Go behind the scenes with the program creators.
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