# On the high rate of unmarried mothers in Iceland

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-high-rate-of-unmarried-mothers-in-iceland/150667>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [January 24, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-high-rate-of-unmarried-mothers-in-iceland/150667 "2003-01-24T18:39:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-high-rate-of-unmarried-mothers-in-iceland/150667/1 "2003-01-24T18:39:31Z")

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In today’s column (another excellent job as usual, **Cece** 😃 ) Our Leader notes:

> [@](#):
>
> in 1998 the proportion of births to unmarried women in Iceland was 64 percent.

True enough. But I have heard (from my ex-wife who travelled extensively in Iceland) that many couples live together and start families, effectively living as a “married couple” despite not actually being married. The ex said it’s not uncommon for couples to live together for decades, have children and watch them grow up and leave the nest, before finally taking the plunge and getting officially married, one assumes for tax purposes.

My question is: Are those “long-term unmarried couples” included in the statistic that **Cecil** cites?

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-high-rate-of-unmarried-mothers-in-iceland/150667/2 "2003-01-25T00:29:19Z")

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[Is it true half of all marriages end in divorce?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030124.html) is the link to Cecil’s column.

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**Author:** ![regnad\_kcin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@regnad\_kcin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regnad_kcin)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-high-rate-of-unmarried-mothers-in-iceland/150667/3 "2003-01-25T00:50:37Z")

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The same is true in Germany.

Granted, most of my friends in Germany are late 20s - early 30s.

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**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-high-rate-of-unmarried-mothers-in-iceland/150667/4 "2003-01-25T21:11:46Z")

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**samclem** , thanks for posting the link. I was posting at work and heard the boss’s footsteps…

**regnad kcin** , does Germany have similarly high out-of-wedlock birth rates?

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**Author:** ![Pez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5e9695/32.png) [@Pez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pez)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-high-rate-of-unmarried-mothers-in-iceland/150667/5 "2003-01-27T03:03:04Z")

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Since I’m Icelandic you have to believe me on the stats on single moms here.  
In the year 2000 out of 4315 children born, 603 (14%) were to single mothers (not married nor living with father) and 2210 (51%) to mothers living with (but not married to) father.  
So 2813 (65%) born to not married mothers (both kinds) and 1502 (35%) to married moms.  
Make what you like of the statistics, if you want more stats see: [http://www.statice.is/](http://www.statice.is/)

But it is true that being a bastard is not relevant here, not even as a source of teasing in kindergarten.

I don’t know if your browser will support this but in icelandic we even have a special smilie, the sticking-out-tounge one or :þ

Either you see it or you wont.

Cheers.  
Pez