More babies born to unmarried parents than ever in Spain
Spain is still viewed by some as a traditionally Catholic country where you get married before having children, but new figures show that more babies are now born to unmarried mothers than married ones for the first time on record.
More children in Spain were born to legally single mothers than married mothers in 2022, the first time this has happened since records began.
This is according to new data released by Spain's national statistics body (INE), that shows the number of single mothers (165,062) exceeded those who were married (164,189) last year.
This is just one conclusion drawn in the study Natural Population Movement, published recently by INE, that points to a changing country in terms of population trends but also changing social attitudes in Spain.
In what was once a traditionally Catholic country that emphasised marriage, Spain is increasingly becoming a more secular place where marriage isn't the fist choice, more children are born to single mothers, women have children later, and generally have fewer children than in the past.
The average maternity age in Spain now stands at 32.6 years, the highest figure since records began (along with 2021) while women only have 1.16 children on average, the lowest record since 1999. In fact, Spain has the second lowest birth rate in the entire EU.
According to a study by business school TBS Education-Barcelona, in Spain there are now only 7.6 births per 1,000 inhabitants, only ahead of Italy, with 7.1.
READ ALSO: The real reasons why Spaniards don't want to have children
Though changing social attitudes do play a part, the changing model of motherhood in Spain (and more broadly at a global level) can also be explained by the incorporation of women into the labour market over time, economic pressures and a lack of resources for motherhood, as well as medical advancements making motherhood possible later in life.
Yet, counterintuitively, despite single mothers outnumbering married mums for the first time, marriages in Spain actually increased by 20.5 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year. This could be partly explained due the pandemic's restrictions, but it also suggests that marriage is no longer viewed as a prerequisite for starting a family in Spain, and that getting married is not synonymous with having children, as it might have been in the past.
The number of marriages in Spain in 2022 was the highest in a decade, with 179,107 new couples registered.
READ ALSO - Civil union or marriage in Spain: which one is better?
The average age at which couples got married in Spain in 2022 was 39.3 years for men and 36.6 years for women, almost five years above the average age at which they have their first child.
The birth rate in Spain has been on a long downward trend and has reached the lowest values since 1900. In the last decade alone, the number of births has fallen by 27.6 percent, from 454,648 in 2021 to just 329,251 in 2022.
READ ALSO: Single parents in Spain - What benefits and aid are you eligible for?
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More children in Spain were born to legally single mothers than married mothers in 2022, the first time this has happened since records began.
This is according to new data released by Spain's national statistics body (INE), that shows the number of single mothers (165,062) exceeded those who were married (164,189) last year.
This is just one conclusion drawn in the study Natural Population Movement, published recently by INE, that points to a changing country in terms of population trends but also changing social attitudes in Spain.
In what was once a traditionally Catholic country that emphasised marriage, Spain is increasingly becoming a more secular place where marriage isn't the fist choice, more children are born to single mothers, women have children later, and generally have fewer children than in the past.
The average maternity age in Spain now stands at 32.6 years, the highest figure since records began (along with 2021) while women only have 1.16 children on average, the lowest record since 1999. In fact, Spain has the second lowest birth rate in the entire EU.
According to a study by business school TBS Education-Barcelona, in Spain there are now only 7.6 births per 1,000 inhabitants, only ahead of Italy, with 7.1.
READ ALSO: The real reasons why Spaniards don't want to have children
Though changing social attitudes do play a part, the changing model of motherhood in Spain (and more broadly at a global level) can also be explained by the incorporation of women into the labour market over time, economic pressures and a lack of resources for motherhood, as well as medical advancements making motherhood possible later in life.
Yet, counterintuitively, despite single mothers outnumbering married mums for the first time, marriages in Spain actually increased by 20.5 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year. This could be partly explained due the pandemic's restrictions, but it also suggests that marriage is no longer viewed as a prerequisite for starting a family in Spain, and that getting married is not synonymous with having children, as it might have been in the past.
The number of marriages in Spain in 2022 was the highest in a decade, with 179,107 new couples registered.
READ ALSO - Civil union or marriage in Spain: which one is better?
The average age at which couples got married in Spain in 2022 was 39.3 years for men and 36.6 years for women, almost five years above the average age at which they have their first child.
The birth rate in Spain has been on a long downward trend and has reached the lowest values since 1900. In the last decade alone, the number of births has fallen by 27.6 percent, from 454,648 in 2021 to just 329,251 in 2022.
READ ALSO: Single parents in Spain - What benefits and aid are you eligible for?
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