12th May 2008

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People in ‘mixed’ relationships in Northern Ireland tend to be more educated and have higher incomes than those in traditional relationships, according to new research.  

The research was carried out  by Professor Gillian Robinson of the University of Ulster and Dr Katrina Lloyd of QUB, who used data from the Northern Ireland Life and Times survey to explore the socio-economic characteristics and attitudes of people who enter ‘mixed’ relationships.  
 
Headline findings from the research report – entitled ‘Intimate Mixing – Bridging the Gap?  Catholic-Protestant Relationships in Northern Ireland’ – are that people who enter 'mixed' relationships are:  

• less likely to be married (88%) than those who are in same religion partnerships (96%)
• more likely to be younger, better educated and to have higher incomes than those who were in same religion relationships
• more likely to have lived outside Northern Ireland (35%) than those who were in same religion relationships (21%)
• more likely to have attended mixed religion schools (16%) than their same religion counterparts (11%)
• more likely to send their children to a mixed religion school
• more likely to support Alliance party and less likely to support ‘nationalist’ or ‘unionist’ parties than those in same religion partnerships
• much more likely than their counterparts who lived in same religion partnerships to say they were neither Nationalist nor Unionist (59% and 27% respectively).

Researcher Professor Gillian Robinson of the University of Ulster said:  “My colleague Dr Katrina Lloyd and myself were interested in the characteristics of those who enter ‘mixed’ relationships.  
 
“Remember, a ‘mixed’ relationship in Northern Ireland traditionally means one where one partner is from the Catholic community and one is from the Protestant community.  
 
“This would not be seen as ‘mixed’ in other places where mixed might mean Christian/non-Christian or a relationship between different ethnic groups.”
 
“ The survey evidence shows a very slow increase in the numbers of people entering a mixed relationship over the last two decades in Northern Ireland, but the numbers are still small.  The findings confirm what many have always said, i.e. that people  in mixed partnerships tend to be more educated and have higher incomes.’  
 
Information about those who enter mixed relationships in Northern Ireland has always been difficult to source.  Research has usually been based on small studies of a limited number of couples, making it difficult to generalise about people in ‘mixed’ relationships.  
 
The report will be launched formally at an event at 12.00 noon on Tuesday 13 May at the offices of NICVA, 61 Duncairn Gardens, BELFAST.
 
 
Notes for Editors

1.     ARK ((the Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive) is a joint resource between two Northern Ireland universities, ARK was established in 2000 with a single goal: to make social science information on Northern Ireland available to the widest possible audience.


2.     Media contact: Professor Gillian Robinson, via the University of Ulster Press Office on 0928 90 366178
  

For further information, please contact:

David Young
Telephone: 028 90366074
Email: David Young