More children of unmarried parents officially acknowledged by fathers

Babies born to unmarried couples are increasingly being officially acknowledged by their fathers in the year they are born. Nine in ten babies born to unmarried parents in 2011 were acknowledged in the same year. The number of paternity acknowledgments has also risen substantially, mainly because more and more children are born outside marriage.

Percentage of babies of unmarried parents acknowledged by father in year of birth

More and more babies acknowledged at birth

An increasing number of babies born to unmarried parents are acknowledged by their fathers at birth or in the same year. This was the case for nearly 90 percent of babies born in 2011, compared with 84 percent in 2000.
Another 7 percent of children born in 2000 were acknowledged at a later point in time. On 1 January 2012, 9 percent of children born outside marriage in 2000 had not (yet) been acknowledged.

Acknowledgments of children born to unmarried parents in 2000

Number of acknowledgements up

Not only the share of children acknowledged has risen, the number of paternity acknowledgements per year has also increased substantially. The main reason for this is that babies are increasingly born to unmarried couples. In 2011 this number was 81.6 thousand, of whom 73.4 thousand were acknowledged by their fathers in the same year. In 2000 the number was 51.5 thousand , with 43.1 thousand paternity acknowledgements. In addition, every year around 4 thousand children born in a previous year are acknowledged. This number is fairly stable.

Births to unmarried parents and paternity acknowledgements

Arno Sprangers, Wim Vissers and John de Winter