Parents are financially better off if they split up under the current UK tax system, according to a new report.

New research shows that 44 per cent of people claim to know someone who has been the victim of domestic abuse. The survey, carried out on behalf of Cosc, a Government organisation mandated to prevent domestic, sexual and domestic violence, also showed most people were unwilling to intervene in situations of abuse if they related to someone outside their family or circle of friends.

Aggressive atheists have used the terrorist outrages of September 11 as an excuse to attack all religions, according to the former head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Lord Carey.

Children living with both biological parents or adoptive parents who attend religious services regularly are less likely to exhibit problems at school or at home, according to new research from the US.

The study by psychologist Nicholas Zill, the founder of Child Trends, and statistician Philip Fletcher found that such children were 5.5 times less likely to have repeated a grade than children not living with both parents and not attending religious services regularly

Children in with both married parents attending regular religious services were also 2.5 less likely to have had their parents contacted by the school because of a conduct or achievement problem.

Furthermore, intact families who have regular religious participation (defined as at least weekly or monthly) were less likely to report parental stress and more likely to report a "better parent-child relationship," the analysis, which focused on families with children ages 6-17, says.

The study, co-released by the Family Research Council and more than 30 state family councils as part of FRC's Mapping America project, was based on interviews in 2003 with parents of more than 100,000 children and teens by the National Center for Health Statistics for the National Survey of Children's Health.

The data "hold[s] up after controlling for family income and poverty, low parent education levels, and race and ethnicity."

"An intact two-parent family and regular church attendance are each associated with fewer problem behaviors, more positive social development, and fewer parental concerns about the child's learning and achievement," Zill and Fletcher wrote.

"Taken together, the two home-environment factors have an additive relationship with child well-being. That is, children who live in an intact family and attend religious services regularly generally come out best on child development measures, while children who do neither come out worst. Children with one factor in their favor, but not the other, fall in between ...."

The authors said that children in an intact religious family "are more likely to exhibit positive social behavior, including showing respect for teachers and neighbors, getting along with other children, understanding other people's feelings, and trying to resolve conflicts with classmates, family, or friends."

Pat Fagan, the director of FRC's Center for Family and Religion, said the study should impact social policy.

"Social science data continue to demonstrate overwhelmingly that the intact married family that worships weekly is the greatest generator of human goods and social benefits and is the core strength of the United States," he said in a statement.

"Policy makers should strongly consider whether their policy proposals give support to such a family structure. Children are not the only beneficiaries but also their parents, families, communities, and all of society."

The overwhelming majority of Irish people (92 per cent) believe that children have the right to be raised by a mother and father where possible, according to a new Red C poll commissioned by The Iona Institute.

Three international gay rights organisations are jointly urging the UN body that reviews implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to incorporate the radical “Yogyakarta Principles” in its recommendations.

Ireland is the EU country with the highest birth rate, according to new figures from Eurostat, the EU's official statistics body.

A UK atheist group has launched an advertising campaign on public transport across Britain.

Five Roman Catholic adoption agencies have decided to go against Catholic teaching and change their policies to allow applications from homosexual couples, after the coming into force on January 1st of the UK Government's new Sexual Orientation Regulation (SOR).

The absence of fathers in the lives of children is set to cause “huge problems”, according to Brendan Dempsey, the southern regional president of the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP).

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore has criticised attempts by the Government to ensure that the European Union does not decide sensitive social issues.

The number of divorces granted has risen by a third between 2000 and 2007 and by six per cent in 2007 compared with 2006, according to figures released by the Courts Service. The statistics, published in the latest issue of Family Law Matters and reported in The Irish Times showed that there were 3,684 divorces granted in 2007, compared with 3,467 in 2006.

Regular attendance at Mass and other religious services cuts the risk of death by nearly 20 per cent among women aged 50 to 79, according to new research from the US.

Pope Benedict's Christmas address to the Curia which dealt, among other things, with marriage and the differences between the sexes, has been badly misquoted in a series of media outlets which claim the Pope suggested that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.

A ruling that a Christian registrar, Miss Lillian Ladele, had been discriminated against by her Council when she objected to registering same-sex civil partnerships has been quashed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in the UK.

Recapitalising familes "is an investment which comes with a guaranteed return", according to the Primate of All-Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady. In his Christmas message, the Cardinal said that, in order for future prosperity to built on more solid foundations, family and community life needed to be rebuilt.

The UK Government has admitted that children brought up within a marriage setting are better off than children brought up in cohabiting or single parent families.

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire has put a moratorium on new holiday displays, after an atheist sign placed next to a nativity scene sparked a controversy.

An unmarried sperm donor father in the UK whose son was taken away by his lesbian mother during family court proceedings has been permitted to ask publicly for his safe return after restrictions on identifying the parties was lifted.

More than a third of Britons continue to believe in the virgin birth, according to new poll commissioned by Theos, the public theology think tank.