Surprise, surprise.
April 21, 2006 by kate baggott
Filed under Mommy Extras
It seems more and more children are being born out-of-wedlock all over Europe, especially in France, Scandanavia and Germany. According to study results reported in the Christian Science Monitor, the number of children born to unmarried couples varies across Europe according to differing religious and social traditions.
According to the EU statistics office, Eurostat, 56 percent of Swedish births are outside marriage while in Greece the figure is only 4 percent. In France 48 per cent, 42% in Britain and 28% in Germany at 28 percent.
To be honest, I am surprised the figure in Germany is so low. My husband is one of just a handful of fathers who drop off or pick up the his children at Kindergarten and I am one of few wives who insist on help with the housework from other family members. My little boy can wipe up spills and dust like a pro. I always got the impression that a lot of working German women question whether husbands are make for a better family life, or for just more work.
Certainly, I don’t think any less of unmarried mothers than I do of married mothers, but I can’t help but wonder what prejudices against them still exist.
Many people in my family have had children unmarried, and I plan to do the same. The main prejudice I’ve encountered is that people think not being married means either of a mono-parental family, or a relationship that isn’t very strong (and that the children were unplanned as well). Marriage has the importance that people give it, but in reality it’s no more than a bit of paperwork. Many people choose to get married when their relationship becomes very serious and use it as a mark of commitment, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to have a very serious relationship and not be married. It’s just a choice.
Exactly. Choice, is important for everyone.