Second Sunday in May is booked for mothers
Although we should dedicate a few extra minutes to them every day of the year, on the second Sunday in May we celebrate mothers. Whether they have been mothers for only a few months or for decades, their love, support and care are unconditional and irreplaceable. Although emotions do not belong to any numeral system, statistics also put mothers in a “box”, or more precisely, at the annual level, statistics keep track of how many women have given birth, their average age at childbirth, the fertility rate of individual country, etc. Check the text below for some interesting data we have prepared.
Women in Croatia become mothers in their late twenties
Bringing a new life into the world is a brave and responsible decision. It was made by 35 871 women who gave birth in 2021, thereby many of them becoming mothers for the first time. Of a total of 36 508 live births in 2021, the majority was the first child.
The average age of mothers at the birth of their first child in 2021 was 29.6. It is much more than fifty years ago, when women gave birth to their first child at an average age of 22.6.
Observing the total number of births, the average mother’s age at first birth in 2021 was 31.1. The most numerous are the ones that gave birth in their thirties, followed by those in their twenties, while more than a thousand and a half women became mothers for the first time in their forties.
Fertility rate the highest in France, Croatia close to the European average
Total fertility rate also speaks of motherhood, which is defined as the average number of children that would be born alive to a woman during her lifetime if she were to pass through her childbearing years (15 – 49) conforming to the age-specific fertility rates of a given year. It amounted to 1.58 in Croatia in 2021, which is very close to the European Union average of 1.53. In the entire Union, according to this indicator, women of childbearing age would give birth to the highest number of children in France (1.84), and the lowest in Malta (1.13). The figures for other countries are presented in the graph below.
What else do we know about mothers in Croatia?
In addition to these data, there are some other that can also be useful when thinking about children and their mothers. Statistics also track data on mothers of liveborn children according to their educational attainment and activity. In 2021, most children, almost half of the total number, were born to mothers whose highest level of education was upper secondary school. They were followed by mothers with higher education.
In 2021, as much as 87.9% of children were born to mothers who were active, i.e. they worked for a living, or were looking for their first or new employment, while the mothers of 5.7% of children were dependent, i.e. they did not earn for a living. A very small share, only 0.4% of children, were born to women who have only personal income (social assistance, rental income, pensioners), while for 6.0% of children, information on their mother's activity is unknown.
In the end, we want to say thank you to all mothers and wish them a happy Mother’s Day!
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