“If we did not have a Siberian-grade demographic winter in Spain, that could have its drawbacks, but it would not be catastrophic,” the report highlights. However, “since there is very low fertility, the fact that there is less and less stable marriage is not something that will at all facilitate the recovery of the fertility necessary to reach the replacement level,” add the experts from the Demographic Observatory.
This consideration is based on data that shows how the average number of children per woman declines depending on the type of commitment she establishes. Thus, the rate is 1.81 if there is a marriage, 1.39 in registered de facto couples, 1.21 in those who are unregistered and 0.88 if they do not have a partner.
Less than half of mothers are married
Other negative data provided by the report refer to the fact that, with the drop in marriage rates and the increase in breakups, the percentage of babies born in Spain to unmarried mothers has grown and that 10% of babies “would not live with their father from birth.”