Marriage and birthstatistics - new ways of

living together in the EU Statistics Explained

Source Statistics Explained (httpeceuropaeueurostatstatisticsexplained) - 29082018 1

Authors Louise Corselli-Nordblad and Andrea Gereoffy Eurostat

Data extracted in June 2015

This article on marriage and birth statistics is part of a pilot project implemented by Eurostat together withthe Member States The aim of the pilot project is to better reply to userrsquos needs by complementing Eurostatarticles in Statistics Explained containing information on the EU with more detailed information on a nationallevel Articles from the participating Member States are available in the corresponding national languages aswell as in English and they form together with the Eurostat article an online publication

The way people live together in the EU has significantly changed in the last decades Marriage had longbeen considered as virtually the only way to form a family This has changed and alternatives to marriage likeconsensual unions and registered partnerships have become more widespread At the same time births outsidemarriage have become more and more frequent

To describe the current situation this article presents statistics on marriages divorces consensual unionsand births in the European Union

Figure 1 Marriage rate 2013 Source Eurostat (demonind)

Infographic Marriages and births in the EU

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 2

Table 2 Marital situation population aged 20 and over in 2011 Source Eurostat (cens11msr3)

Main statistical findingsMarriages and divorcesNearly one divorce for two marriages in the EU-28

In 20111 21 million couples married in the EU-28 corresponding to a crude marriage rate of 42 marriages per1 000 persons a decrease compared with 52 in 2000 On the other hand there were almost 1 million divorcesin 2011 corresponding to a crude divorce rate of 20 divorces per 1 000 persons an increase compared with 18in 2000 While there was nearly one divorce for every three marriages in 2000 there was one divorce for twomarriages in 2011

1No 2013 data available for the EU aggregate

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 3

Table 2 Marital situation population aged 20 and over in 2011 Source Eurostat (cens11msr3)

Main statistical findingsMarriages and divorcesNearly one divorce for two marriages in the EU-28

In 20111 21 million couples married in the EU-28 corresponding to a crude marriage rate of 42 marriages per1 000 persons a decrease compared with 52 in 2000 On the other hand there were almost 1 million divorcesin 2011 corresponding to a crude divorce rate of 20 divorces per 1 000 persons an increase compared with 18in 2000 While there was nearly one divorce for every three marriages in 2000 there was one divorce for twomarriages in 2011

1No 2013 data available for the EU aggregate

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 3

In 2013 the highest crude marriage rates among the EU Member States were recorded in Lithuania (69marriages per 1 000 persons) Cyprus (64) and Malta (61) and the lowest in Bulgaria and Slovenia (both 30marriages per 1 000 persons) Portugal (31) Italy and Luxembourg (both 32)

Since divorces became legal in Malta in 2011 it is now legal to seek a divorce in all Member States In2013 Latvia (35 divorces per 1 000 inhabitants) had the highest crude divorce rate followed by Denmark andLithuania (both 34) and Sweden (28) while Ireland (06 divorces per 1 000 inhabitants in 2012) Malta (08)and Italy (09 in 2012) registered the lowest rates

Marital statusMore than half of the population aged 20 and over in the EU-28 is married

Statistics on marital status consider only the legal aspect There are several types of marital status mar-ried widowed divorced registered partnerships as well as singles meaning those who have never been marriedor in a registered partnership For the population aged 20 and over in the EU the population census carried outin all EU Member States in 2011 shows that being married is still the most common form of marital status withmore than half (553 ) of those aged over 20 in the EU-28 being married in 2011 The remaining populationof this age consisted of 281 single - people never married or in a registered partnership 89 widowed and74 divorced 03 registered partnerships2 other or not stated

The proportion of the population aged 20 and over being married in 2011 varied between Member Stateswith the highest shares in Cyprus and Malta (both 646 ) Greece (624 ) Romania (611 ) and Poland(608 ) The lowest shares were observed in Estonia (415 ) Sweden (439 ) Latvia (469 ) Hungary(477 ) Finland (483 ) and Slovenia (494 ) where less than half of the population aged 20 and over ismarried

Marriages are more common among the elderly 165 of those aged 20 to 29 in the EU were marriedcompared with 606 of those aged 30 to 49 and 645 of those aged 50 and over

When comparing the proportion of divorced people the highest shares were recorded in Latvia (150 )Estonia (145 ) and the Czech Republic (128 ) and the lowest in Malta (06 ) Ireland (26 ) and Italy(28 )

Figure 2 Divorce rate 2013 Source Eurostat (demondivind)

2Data on same-sex partnerships is not gathered by all EU Member States For more information on data availability seeDemographic statistics A review of definitions and methods of collection in 44 European countries)

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 4

Table 1 Mean age at first marriage 2013 Source Eurostat (demonind)

Consensual unionsAmong young people aged 20 to 29 15 live in a consensual union in the EU-28

In order to further analyse the new ways of living together and to complement the legal aspect statisticson consensual unions3 which take into account the situation when two persons belong to the same householdand have a rsquomarriage-likersquo relationship with each other and are not married to or in a registered partnershipwith each other can also be analysed According to the last population census 88 of the EU-28 popula-tion aged 20 and over lived in a consensual union in 2011 The shares varied considerably between MemberStates with the highest proportions observed in Sweden (183 ) Estonia (164 ) France (143 ) Denmarkand Finland (both 140 ) and the lowest in Greece (17 ) Poland (21 ) Malta (25 ) and Croatia (29 )

Consensual unions are more common among young people 150 of those aged 20 to 29 in the EU livedin a consensual union compared with 126 of those aged 30 to 49 and 38 of those aged 50 and over

3The result of the census data collection on consensual unions depends on assumptions and national methods (registers vstraditional data collection

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 5

Figure 3 Consensual unions of the population of 20 and over () 2011 Source Eurostat(cens11fsr3)

Mean age at first marriageMean age at first marriage over 30 for men in most Member States

In all Member States for which data is available the age at first marriage for both men and women hasincreased by approximately 1 to 4 years between 2000 and 2013 There is a large proportion of the populationwho get married after the age of 30

In 2013 the mean age at first marriage for men was at least 30 years in all EU Member States except Poland(290 years) Lithuania (295 years) and Romania (297 years) The highest mean age for men at first marriagewas recorded in Sweden (357 years) followed by Denmark Spain and Italy (each around 34 years)

The lowest age for women at first marriage was observed in Romania (263 years) Poland (266 years) andBulgaria (267 years) while the highest age was recorded in Ireland (343 years in 2011) Sweden (330 years)and Spain (322 years)

The mean age at first marriage for women was lower than for men in all Member States except Ireland wheremen were almost a year younger than women In the other Member States men were around two to three yearsolder than women at first marriage

BirthsFertility rates still below the replacement level in the EU-28

In parallel with the change in the way people live together changes have also been observed regarding births

A fertility rate of around 21 live births per woman is considered to be the replacement level in other wordsthe average number of live births per woman required to keep the population size constant if net migration iszero The fertility rate in the EU-28 has been lower than this replacement level in recent decades It stood at146 live births per woman in the EU-28 in 2001 During the last decade a slight recovery was observed in mostEU Member States such that by 2013 the EU-28rsquos total fertility rate was 155

The highest fertility rates were recorded in France (199 live births per woman) Ireland (196) Sweden (189)and the United Kingdom (183) and the lowest in Portugal (121) Spain (127) and Poland (129)

Mean age of women at birth of first child in the EU-28 is nearly 29 years

The mean age of women at the birth of their first child was 287 years in the EU-28 in 2013 As for theage of marriage the age of women at birth of first child also varied among Member States Women were 30years or over at the birth of their first child in Italy (306 years) Spain (304 years) and Luxembourg (300)

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 6

Figure 3 Consensual unions of the population of 20 and over () 2011 Source Eurostat(cens11fsr3)

Mean age at first marriageMean age at first marriage over 30 for men in most Member States

In all Member States for which data is available the age at first marriage for both men and women hasincreased by approximately 1 to 4 years between 2000 and 2013 There is a large proportion of the populationwho get married after the age of 30

In 2013 the mean age at first marriage for men was at least 30 years in all EU Member States except Poland(290 years) Lithuania (295 years) and Romania (297 years) The highest mean age for men at first marriagewas recorded in Sweden (357 years) followed by Denmark Spain and Italy (each around 34 years)

The lowest age for women at first marriage was observed in Romania (263 years) Poland (266 years) andBulgaria (267 years) while the highest age was recorded in Ireland (343 years in 2011) Sweden (330 years)and Spain (322 years)

The mean age at first marriage for women was lower than for men in all Member States except Ireland wheremen were almost a year younger than women In the other Member States men were around two to three yearsolder than women at first marriage

BirthsFertility rates still below the replacement level in the EU-28

In parallel with the change in the way people live together changes have also been observed regarding births

A fertility rate of around 21 live births per woman is considered to be the replacement level in other wordsthe average number of live births per woman required to keep the population size constant if net migration iszero The fertility rate in the EU-28 has been lower than this replacement level in recent decades It stood at146 live births per woman in the EU-28 in 2001 During the last decade a slight recovery was observed in mostEU Member States such that by 2013 the EU-28rsquos total fertility rate was 155

The highest fertility rates were recorded in France (199 live births per woman) Ireland (196) Sweden (189)and the United Kingdom (183) and the lowest in Portugal (121) Spain (127) and Poland (129)

Mean age of women at birth of first child in the EU-28 is nearly 29 years

The mean age of women at the birth of their first child was 287 years in the EU-28 in 2013 As for theage of marriage the age of women at birth of first child also varied among Member States Women were 30years or over at the birth of their first child in Italy (306 years) Spain (304 years) and Luxembourg (300)

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 6

while they were around 26 years in Bulgaria (257 years) Romania (258 years) and Latvia (261 years)

Comparing 2013 with 2000 among the Member States for which data are available for both years increasesin the mean age of the mother at birth of first child of around 3 years are observed in the Czech RepublicEstonia Cyprus Lithuania Hungary and Slovakia while there was a decrease of almost one year in the UnitedKingdom

Four out of ten births are outside marriage in the EU-28

The proportion of live births outside marriage in the EU-28 has increased significantly in the last decadesignalling new patterns of family formation alongside the more traditional pattern where children were bornwithin marriage In 2012 400 of live births in the EU-28 were outside marriage which is 127 percentagepoints higher than the share of 273 in 2000

In some Member States over half of live births are taking place outside marriage This was the case inBulgaria (591 of live births outside marriage) Estonia (584 ) Slovenia (580 ) France (567 ) Sweden(544 ) Belgium (523 ) and Denmark (515 ) in 2013 On the other hand only 7 of live births in Greecewere outside marriage followed by 161 in Croatia 186 in Cyprus and 234 in Poland4

Table 3 Births 2013 Source Eurostat (demofind)

4Data refer to 2012 for Estonia France Belgium and Cyprus

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 7

Data sources and availabilityEurostat compiles information on a wide range of demographic data including data on the number of marriagesby gender and previous marital status as well as statistics relating to the number of divorces Data on thenumber of live births according to the motherrsquos marital status may be used to produce an indicator that showsthe proportion of births outside marriage

Fertility statistics are also collected in relation to the number of births by the rank of the child (first secondthird child and so on) A series of fertility indicators are produced from the information collected including thetotal fertility rate and fertility rates according to the motherrsquos age the mean age of women at childbirth thecrude birth rate etc

Census dataMost EU countries conduct a population census every 10 years Compared to surveys and annual demographicdata the census results are very precise and can give information about the population at the national regionaland municipal levels The census results of all EU and EFTA countries are accessible via the Eurostat CensusHub

ContextThe EUrsquos social policy does not include a specific strand for family issues Policymaking in this area remainsthe exclusive responsibility of EU Member States reflecting different family structures historical developmentssocial attitudes and traditions from one Member State to another Nevertheless policymakers may well evaluatefertility statistics as a background for family policymaking Furthermore a number of common demographicthemes are apparent across the whole of the EU such as a reduction in the average number of children beingborn per woman and the increasing mean age of mothers at childbirth

The family is a changing concept what it means to be a member of a family and the expectations peoplehave of family relationships vary with time and space making it difficult to find a universally agreed and ap-plied definition Legal alternatives to marriage like registered partnerships have become more widespread andnational legislation has developed to confer more rights to unmarried and same sex couples Alongside these newlegal forms other forms of non-marital relationships have appeared making it more difficult for statisticians tocollect data within this domain that can be compared across countries

View this article online at http ec europa eu eurostat statistics-explained index php Marriages_and_ births_ in_ the_ EU

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 8

Data sources and availabilityEurostat compiles information on a wide range of demographic data including data on the number of marriagesby gender and previous marital status as well as statistics relating to the number of divorces Data on thenumber of live births according to the motherrsquos marital status may be used to produce an indicator that showsthe proportion of births outside marriage

Fertility statistics are also collected in relation to the number of births by the rank of the child (first secondthird child and so on) A series of fertility indicators are produced from the information collected including thetotal fertility rate and fertility rates according to the motherrsquos age the mean age of women at childbirth thecrude birth rate etc

Census dataMost EU countries conduct a population census every 10 years Compared to surveys and annual demographicdata the census results are very precise and can give information about the population at the national regionaland municipal levels The census results of all EU and EFTA countries are accessible via the Eurostat CensusHub

ContextThe EUrsquos social policy does not include a specific strand for family issues Policymaking in this area remainsthe exclusive responsibility of EU Member States reflecting different family structures historical developmentssocial attitudes and traditions from one Member State to another Nevertheless policymakers may well evaluatefertility statistics as a background for family policymaking Furthermore a number of common demographicthemes are apparent across the whole of the EU such as a reduction in the average number of children beingborn per woman and the increasing mean age of mothers at childbirth

The family is a changing concept what it means to be a member of a family and the expectations peoplehave of family relationships vary with time and space making it difficult to find a universally agreed and ap-plied definition Legal alternatives to marriage like registered partnerships have become more widespread andnational legislation has developed to confer more rights to unmarried and same sex couples Alongside these newlegal forms other forms of non-marital relationships have appeared making it more difficult for statisticians tocollect data within this domain that can be compared across countries

View this article online at http ec europa eu eurostat statistics-explained index php Marriages_and_ births_ in_ the_ EU

Marriage and birth statistics - new ways of living together in the EU 8