Fewer young couples getting married

© Hollandse Hoogte
In 2017, 64.4 thousand marriages were contracted and 17.9 thousand civil partnerships were registered in the Netherlands. Marriage has become less popular among people in their twenties and thirties; they are more likely to opt for registered partnership or non-marital cohabitation. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on the basis of provisional figures over 2017.

The number of marriages contracted annually has declined over the longer term. Twenty years ago, as many as 85 thousand couples tied the knot, while this number has fluctuated around 65 thousand in recent years. At the same time, registered partnership is on the rise, with nearly 18 thousand couples signing a registered partnership last year, up by over 2 thousand on 2016 and 11 thousand on 2007.

Marriages and partnership registrations
  Marriages (x 1,000) Registered partnerships (x 1,000)
1950 83.1
1951 90.2
1952 87.4
1953 85.7
1954 88.1
1955 89
1956 92.3
1957 93.6
1958 91.5
1959 88
1960 89.1
1961 92.6
1962 93.1
1963 95.4
1964 102.9
1965 108.5
1966 111.9
1967 115.1
1968 117.5
1969 117.4
1970 123.6
1971 122.4
1972 117.5
1973 107.6
1974 109.6
1975 100.1
1976 97
1977 93.3
1978 89.1
1979 85.6
1980 90.2
1981 85.6
1982 83.5
1983 78.5
1984 81.7
1985 82.7
1986 87.3
1987 87.4
1988 87.8
1989 90.2
1990 95.6
1991 94.9
1992 93.6
1993 88.3
1994 83
1995 81.5
1996 85.1
1997 85.1
1998 87 4.6
1999 89.4 3.3
2000 88.1 2.9
2001 82.1 2.2
2002 85.8 3.5
2003 80.4 4.8
2004 73.4 5.6
2005 72.3 6.3
2006 72.4 6.8
2007 72.5 7.3
2008 75.4 8
2009 73.5 8.9
2010 75.4 9.6
2011 71.6 9.9
2012 70.3 9.2
2013 64.5 9.4
2014 65.3 10.4
2015 64.3 12.8
2016 65.2 15.7
2017 64.4 17.9

Decline mainly among 25 to 34-year-olds

There are mainly fewer marriages in the age categories around age 30, relative to the entire population. Whereas in 1997, 83 out of every 1 thousand single women between the ages 25 and 30 got married, this share had dropped to as low as 37 by 2017. Among 30 to 34-year-old women, the share decreased from 74 to 43 in every 1 thousand. Male cohorts also saw the sharpest decline in these categories.

Between 1997 and 2017, the average age at first marriage rose from 30 to 34 years among men and from 28 to 31.5 years among women.

Women getting married
  1997 (per thousand unmarried women) 2007 (per thousand unmarried women) 2017 (per thousand unmarried women)
20 to 24 yrs 33.7 22.5 13.1
25 to 29 yrs 82.7 56 37.2
30 to 34 yrs 74.4 56.8 42.8
35 to 39 yrs 39.4 35.6 28.5
40 to 44 yrs 25.9 25.2 19.9
45 to 49 yrs 19 20.4 14.9

Partially offset by registered partnership

The decreasing number of marriages in each age group is partially offset by registered partnerships. When adding registered partnerships and marriages together, the decrease in the share of couples who register their relationship with the civil registry is smaller in each age category. This is especially the case among 25 to 34-year-olds. In 2017, 12 in 1 thousand unmarried 25 to 29-year-old women entered into a registered partnership, as against 13 among 30 to 34-year-old women.

The largest decline in the share of women getting married or registering a partnership was recorded between 2007 and 2013.

Women getting married or entering into a registered partnership
  1997 (per thousand unmarried women) 2007 (per thousand unmarried women) 2017 (per thousand unmarried women)
20 to 24 yrs 33.7 24.3 16.5
25 to 29 yrs 82.7 60.8 49.6
30 to 34 yrs 74.4 62.1 55.8
35 to 39 yrs 39.4 39.3 35.9
40 to 44 yrs 25.9 28.3 24
45 to 49 yrs 19 23.3 18.5

More people cohabiting without being married

It has become customary among younger generations to live together for some time first before getting married or to continue as unmarried couples altogether. As a result, there is currently a larger share of 35-year-olds who cohabit without being married. In addition, more people are in a registered partnership, versus a smaller share who are married at that age. In 1997, for example, 70 percent of women and over 60 percent of men were married at the age of 35. At the beginning of 2017, these shares had dropped to 45 and 36 percent respectively.

Household position of 35-year-olds
  Married (%) Partnership (%) Cohabiting (%) Single (%) Other (%)
Men
1997 62.5 0.0 12.8 17.5 7.3
2007 47.2 0.9 23.5 20.7 7.7
2017 36.4 3.7 27.9 23.3 8.6
Women
1997 70.5 0.0 10.3 9.4 9.8
2007 56.6 0.8 20.7 10.9 11.0
2017 45.3 3.6 26.0 11.9 13.1

Sources

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