Every third child is born out of wedlock

In Germany, never have so many illegitimate children were born as 2010. One third of all newborns had parents without being married - a total of around 225 000 were the boys and girls.

The proportion of illegitimate babies of all infants have doubled in the past 20 years, more than. Compared to last year but the plus was only slightly (0.5 percentage points), as the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden said on Friday. But there are still considerable differences between East and West.

More than 60 percent of babies in the new states have parents who are not married. In the Western States was just over one in four (27 percent) children born outside marriage. Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are at the top (both 64 percent) of out since the reunification of Statistics. In Baden-Württemberg at least new parents are unmarried (22.1 percent of newborns).

In other European countries are illegitimate children still normal: Germany is slightly below the EU average of almost 38 percent. The proportion of illegitimate children born in Estonia in 2009 was the highest (59 percent) and Greece (7 percent) is particularly low.

Many couples in Germany after giving birth to their first child, but still eventually tied the knot. SO 43 percent of the first born in 2010 were born out of wedlock, children with siblings, the proportion was lower. However, almost every fourth mother at the birth of her fourth child was unmarried.How many unmarried parents are yet to decide on the course to the registry office, do not capture the statistician.

But there are more couples with joint children to the registry office to get married than before. The proportion of marriages 1991-2010 has increased from 8 to 20 percent. Especially since the reform of child law in 1998, with the legal position of illegitimate children was better to let pregnant women and their partners to the marriage time or totally abstain from marriage certificate.