Londonderry has highest number of births outside marriage

More than half of all children were born out of wedlock in Londonderry in 2011, the only region in Northern Ireland with a higher proportion of children born outside of marriage than to a married couple.

The overall birth rate in Londonderry has remained fairly constant, with a total of 1,667 live births in 2011, a total which has remained fairly steady since 1999, when there were 1,674.

In Limavady, 44 per cent of children were born out of wedlock in 2011, while across Northern Ireland the total stands at 42 per cent, the highest proportion since on record.

There were 489 live births in Limavady in 2011, again a figure which has changed little since the late 1990s.

Limavady also recorded the lowest percentage of births to mothers born outside of the United Kingdom at just three per cent.

Across Northern Ireland, the number of births to teenage mothers was at it’s lowest rate for 35 years at 1,170, down significantly on the 1,524 recorded ten years ago in 2001.

Half of all babies were born to mothers aged 30 or more, continuing a trend of childbearing later in life. In total 25,300 live births were registered in Northern Ireland in 2011.

The statistics on births were published last week by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

Dr Marshall, speaking on behalf of NISRA, commented on the figures: “While the number of births remains similar to the 2010 figure, and has been broadly stable over the last five years, there are underlying changes. The number of births to older mothers is rising and the number to younger mothers, especially teenage mothers, is falling.”

In a recent report to accompany the publishing of birth statistics, the numbers of births outside marriage were examined: “The percentage of births outside marriage varies by age of mother. Almost all births to teenage mums are outside marriage (98 per cent). By the age of 30 around a quarter of mothers have births outside marriage.”

Across Northern Ireland, approximately ten per cent of births in 2011 were to mothers who themselves had been born outside of the United Kingdom.