Live born children in the Netherlands 1950-2021, by marital status of the mother

This statistic displays the number of live born children in the Netherlands from 1950 to 2021, by marital status of the mother. This graph shows a fundamental change in society: the increasing number of children born out of wedlock. Although the number of children born outside of wedlock was never higher than the number of children born inside of wedlock, by 2021 the difference in numbers was a mere of approximately 28,000 births. To contrast this, in 1950 about 3,500 children were born out of wedlock, compared to over 226,300 children born inside of wedlock. In this way this statistic shows the decreasing social stigma attached to children born out of wedlock.