Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Birth-rate linked to marriage, study shows
To some degree, governments are stumped by the severe drop in birth rates almost everywhere in the western world. They have even fewer ideas about how to reverse the trend, which unless corrected will shortly send the populations of many heading into decline.
A new study from Monash University in Australia (reported by the Family & Society newsletter) suggests that the falling fertility is directly linked to a sharp decline in married partnering among people in their late twenties and thirties. In Australia, in 1986 nearly three-quarters of women aged 30-34 were married, compared with just over half in 2001.
Women are often delaying marriage until 35 or later, and then commonly have only one child.
While growing numbers of women are having a child on their own or in a de facto relationship, most women will not choose to have a child until they are in a secure relationship.
To some degree, governments are stumped by the severe drop in birth rates almost everywhere in the western world. They have even fewer ideas about how to reverse the trend, which unless corrected will shortly send the populations of many heading into decline.
A new study from Monash University in Australia (reported by the Family & Society newsletter) suggests that the falling fertility is directly linked to a sharp decline in married partnering among people in their late twenties and thirties. In Australia, in 1986 nearly three-quarters of women aged 30-34 were married, compared with just over half in 2001.
Women are often delaying marriage until 35 or later, and then commonly have only one child.
While growing numbers of women are having a child on their own or in a de facto relationship, most women will not choose to have a child until they are in a secure relationship.
