Non-marital fertility in the Netherlands, 1950-1981
Faessen Wbm; Prins Cjm
Maandstatistiek van de Bevolking 31(11): 21-34
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0168-6240 PMID: 12279741 Document Number: 401367
Between 1950-76, the percentage of nonmarital liveborn children within the total group of liveborn children never exceeded 2.2. From that point on, it increased sharply and in 1982, it amounted to nearly 6%. Nonmarital fertility, defined as the number of nonmarital liveborn children/1000 not married women ages 15-44 dropped slightly during the 1950-55 period, then rose until 1969, decreased in the 1970-74 period, and finally increased continuously from 1975 onward. Nonmarital fertility has always been greatest among unmarried females ages 25-29 and 30-34. In 1970, 1 of 3 nonmarital children was born to a teenage mother, wheras in 1981, this was the case in 1 of 6. During the period 1950-81, about 70% of all nonmarital liveborn children were 1st born to the mother. The proportion of 2nd children has risen sharply from 1970 on, whereas that of birth order 4+ has dropped drastically from 1970 (text-table 2). The latter phenomenon is also found among marital children. Fertility among divorced women is higher than that of widowed and never married females. In text-table 3, it is also clear that the number of children born to divorced and widowed women remains at a more or less constant level, whereas that to never married women show a rapid increase. According to text-table 4, females of different nationalities living in the Netherlands show a larger nonmarital fertility than females with Dutch nationality. However, the proportion of alien nonmarital children within the total group of alien children almost equals the proportion of Dutch nonmarital children within the total group of Dutch children. In the provinces of Noord- and Zuid-Holland, and especially in the large towns (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague), relatively large numbers of nonmarital children are born (test-tables 5 and 6). This is related to both the large numbers of nonmarital cohabitations in these towns and the relatively large numbers of aliens living there. The increase in nonmarital fertility observed since 1975 is related to: 1) the decreasing number of 1st marriages; 2) the increasing number of divorces; 3) the decreasing number of confinements of marriages with a duration of less than 7 months; and 4) the growing number of nonmarital cohabitations. These developments suggest that nonmarital fertility is due to a qualitative change from predominantly undesired and unplanned confinements to desired and planned pregnancies. (author's modified)