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This study examines the long-term effects of identity-based conflict on personal relationships, health and welfare in Northern Ireland. It focusses on marriage and long-term intimate relationships (defined as co-habiting) between Catholics and Protestants, examining not only the dynamics of these intergroup unions, but also the lives of their children, who may navigate mixed, dual or ambiguous identities in a divided society. Despite political and economic progress since the Good Friday Agreement, social divisions persist, particularly in housing, education, and intimate relationships. While previous research has emphasised the short-term effects of conflict on outcomes such as migration and employment, the enduring impact of conflict and divisions on relationship patterns and associated health and welfare outcomes remains underexplored.
This project makes a descriptive contribution, as it extends existing point-in-time data, such as the 2021 Census, by offering a nuanced analysis of long-term trends in mixed marriages/co-habiting relationships, with attention to the dynamics of couple formation over time and local geographic variation. Apart from this, the project makes two principal contributions. First, it examines how exposure to extreme conflict and residential segregation influences decisions to enter relationships over time, using a time-varying, area-level proxy of Troubles-related deaths, as well as segregation measures.1 This analyses how the legacy of regional conflict and residential segregation during childhood shapes the likelihood of entering a mixed marriage or co-habiting relationship in adulthood. Second, the study investigates self-reported health outcomes among adults and children in both mixed and homogenous families, linking patterns of social integration to population-level wellbeing. By analysing mental health, general health, educational attainment and geographic mobility (e.g., moving to more diverse neighbourhoods), the project highlights how identity-based conflict and segregation contribute to health disparities through relationship dynamics.2
Taken together, this research offers new insights into the intergenerational effects of conflict on personal relationships and wellbeing. By situating mixed-marriages and cohabiting relationship within broader patterns of health and social inequality, the study informs strategies for reconciliation, health equity and social cohesion in post-conflict societies.
