Birth out of wedlock

In Hungary the ratio of births out of wedlock was low for many decades amounting to only 5–6 percent of all births. In the early-mid 80s this percentage began to grow and increased dramatically during the nineties. In the last two years nearly 30 percent of all births was out of wedlock. This phenomenon is obviously attributable to the growing popularity of cohabitation. Just as in many other European countries, the institution of marriage has entered into an era of change in Hungary. Despite the growing rate of cohabitation without marriage, this type of living arrangement is still relatively rare in Hungary. As it appears in the microcensus of 1996 overwhelming majority of couples – about 75 percent – are married. Beside the 16–17% of those living in one parent household the 8–9 percent of those opting for cohabitation cannot be considered dominant in this context. However, cohabitation without marriage is clearly becoming ever more popular among couples in Hungary too. In addition, there has been a growing social tolerance towards such life pattern beyond those choosing it. Although the average ratio of couples living in cohabitation is relatively low, in the case of younger generations cohabitation without marriage is widespread reaching an estimated 25–30 percent among people in the age group of 20–29 years. Of course, this does not mean that the members of this cohort will live all their lives in such relationships. Some will marry the current partner or someone else, but the fact that in the most fertile period of their life they choose cohabitation provides an explanation to the dramatic increase in births out of wedlock witnessed recently in Hungary. In spite of the growing ratio of births out of wedlock and cohabitation without marriage, the attitude of the Hungarians is still fundamentally traditional or conservative. Unlike in some countries in Western and Northern Europe, the question is not why people decide to get married, but just the opposite, why does a major and growing portion of couples prefer cohabitation to marriage? The apparent similarities of cohabitation as a social phenomenon conceal these two different perspectives. Behind the Hungarian perspective there is a marriage-oriented value system and a traditional idea of the family. According to our previous research, the reservations of the Hungarian society about cohabitation and births out of wedlock are essentially not of moral nature but are connected to the worries about the security of children born out of wedlock. This assumption is supported by statistical evidence according to which cohabitation is a less stable partner relationship and consequently it fails to provide the same level of security to children in the long run as legal marriage. Similarly, the fertility rate of cohabitation is lower than that of marriages and thus their contribution to the reproduction the existing population is smaller. In addition, after giving birth out of wedlock a considerable portion of mothers are left to raise the child alone and the single-parent status results in a number of social and financial problems in raising the child. The crucial question here is whether the continuous increase of births out of wedlock expected throughout Europe and in Hungary will be accompanied by a change in the internal content of the relationship between the parents that will make this family form more stable. As increasing numbers choose this living arrangement, will this sort of family relationship become increasingly similar to the pattern of marriage-based family life, and the only difference will be official documentation of the partnership? Furthermore, are mothers raising their children alone rely only on themselves and truly on their own or do new alternatives of family life present an option for them? For example parents although living in separate homes continue to have strong emotional ties. By answering these questions we shall be able to develop novel approaches in terms of the legal, social and family policies for the problems related to births out of wedlock. The above questions were also incorporated into the survey conducted by the Demographic Research Institute in 1996. The survey sample consisted of 1,500 mothers that gave births out of wedlock in 1995. The primary goal of this survey was to identify how conscious the decisions of these mothers were to have a baby without having a legal relationship with a partner. This involved several questions concerning the nature of their decision to give birth out of wedlock. Was their choice determined by their value system? If so, was this a final decision or was it the result of necessity stemming from individual circumstances that do not exclude future marriage. These questions aimed at answering if an irreversible process was observable eroding the traditional form of family life based on marriage or if cohabitation would evolve as an alternative to legal marriage also surviving the changes. Furthermore the question how these processes will effect the situation, role and stability of families is also of great interest for us.