More than half of babies in England and Wales are born outside marriage

How many babies are born outside marriage today?

A little over half of all babies in England and Wales are born to parents who are neither married nor in a civil partnership. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported in its Birth characteristics in England and Wales: 2022 bulletin, released on 17 May 2024, that 51.4% of births were registered outside marriage or civil partnership and 48.6% inside one ^[1]. The bulletin has since been folded into the ONS series called Births in England and Wales, which is why the old page is marked as discontinued ^[1].

The 2022 figure continues a milestone passed a year earlier. In 2021, 320,713 of 624,828 live births, or 51.3%, were registered to women who were neither married nor in a civil partnership, and the ONS said it was the first year since records began in 1845 in which such births outnumbered those within marriage ^[2]. The statistics office tied the change to a long-term decline in marriage and a rise in couples who live together, although it also cautioned that the effects of the pandemic on the data were not yet fully understood ^[2].

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own statistical offices and publish separate figures. National Records of Scotland reported that 51.7% of births in Scotland in 2024 were to unmarried parents ^[9]. The ONS itself does not publish figures for Scotland or Northern Ireland and refers enquirers to National Records of Scotland and to NISRA ^[14]. A comparable Northern Ireland percentage could not be confirmed from the 2024 material consulted for this page, which records 19,416 births registered that year ^[16].

Newer ONS releases exist: the 2025 summary reports 585,396 live births in England and Wales, 1.6% fewer than in 2024 ^[13]. The marital-status breakdown sits in the detailed summary tables rather than in the bulletin text, and this page has not been able to verify a figure for 2023, 2024 or 2025. Whether the share has moved above or below 51.4% since 2022 therefore remains to be verified, and the 2022 figure is the latest one confirmed here.

Births by parents' legal relationship, England and Wales, 2022 (ONS)

Category	Share	Note
Registered inside marriage or civil partnership	48.6%	Parents married or in a civil partnership [1]
Registered outside marriage or civil partnership	51.4%	Above half for the second year running [1][2]
Of those, joint registrations by parents at the same address	69.3%	About 35.6% of all births, a calculation from the two ONS shares [1]
Scotland, births to unmarried parents, 2024 (NRS)	51.7%	Different statistical office and year [9]
Same measure, 2021 (England and Wales)	51.3%	320,713 of 624,828 births; the first year above half since records began in 1845 [2]

Who are the parents?

Most children born outside marriage have two parents who live together. The ONS found that 69.3% of births registered outside marriage or civil partnership in 2022 were joint registrations by parents living at the same address ^[1]. Since those births were 51.4% of the total, a simple multiplication puts such couples at about 35.6% of all births, a calculation made here from the two published shares.

The same pattern was visible in the 2021 data. ITV News, reporting the ONS release, noted that births to parents who were living together made up 36.5% of the total, up from 31.2% in 2011 ^[2]. The remaining births outside marriage were registered either jointly by parents at different addresses or by the mother alone, but the bulletin consulted for this page does not give those percentages ^[1].

Age and marital status are linked. In 2021, 60.5% of mothers aged 30 or over were married or in a civil partnership, compared with 31.2% of mothers in their twenties or younger, and the average age of mothers rose to 30.9 ^[2]. A rising share of births outside marriage therefore does not mean a rise in very young or lone parenthood. It reflects couples who have children while cohabiting, often after living together for several years, a pattern examined in the statistics on cohabitation in the UK.

The trend is not confined to the UK. The OECD Family Database reports an average of 43% of births outside marriage across its member countries in 2023, up from an average of 7% in 1970 ^[12]. The OECD document does not list a UK figure, so a direct ranking cannot be drawn from it, but England and Wales at 51.4% in 2022 sit above the OECD average for 2023.

How should the headline figure be read?

The statistic measures the legal status of the parents at registration, not the stability of the family. A birth is counted as outside marriage if the mother is neither married nor in a civil partnership when the birth is registered ^[1]. The statistic says nothing about whether the parents later marry, and official guidance recognises that case: a biological father who marries the mother after the birth gains parental responsibility ^[7].

It also covers a wide range of circumstances. A couple who have lived together for ten years and a mother who registers the birth alone are both counted as births outside marriage. The 69.3% figure is the best available indicator of how many belong to the first group, because it measures joint registrations at one address ^[1]. The ONS also cautioned that the full effect of the pandemic on the 2021 statistics was not yet known ^[2].

Two other cautions apply. The figures cover registrations in England and Wales only, so they cannot be added to those for Scotland and Northern Ireland to give a UK total ^[14]. And because the share depends on how many couples marry before or after a birth, it moves partly with the age at which people marry.

How has the share changed since the twentieth century?

The share has risen from about one birth in ten to a majority in roughly four decades. A Hansard written answer of 27 October 1988 gave the proportion of UK births outside marriage as 10.0% in 1978, 11.5% in 1980, 18.9% in 1985 and 22.9% in 1987 ^[8]. Over a single decade, the share more than doubled.

The acceleration continued into the 1990s. For teenagers, a later written answer recorded that 25.2% of UK teenage births were outside marriage in 1970, 80.2% in 1990 and 89.7% in 1998 ^[15]. That series covers only mothers under 20, so it overstates the overall pattern, but it shows how quickly marriage and childbearing came apart among the young.

By 2021 the overall share passed 50% for the first time since the start of civil registration records in 1845 ^[2]. The terminology around these births changed with it. Until late in the twentieth century, official documents and statutes referred to children born to unmarried parents as illegitimate. Official statistics now use the neutral phrase outside marriage or civil partnership.

The long-run data show the scale of the shift but not the experience behind it, which included social stigma for unmarried mothers and their children.

How have attitudes to marriage and children changed?

Support for marrying before having children has fallen steeply. In British Social Attitudes, the proportion agreeing that people who want children ought to get married fell from 70% in 1989 to 42% in 2012 ^[3]. In 2012, 34% disagreed, so agreement was still the most common view but no longer a clear majority ^[3]. By 2022, 24% agreed and 45% disagreed ^[4]. Supporters of the Conservative Party were among the groups most likely to hold the traditional view, at 63% ^[3].

Attitudes on sex before marriage have also moved. The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) reported that the share saying pre-marital sex was not wrong at all rose from 42% in 1983 to 64% in 2012 and 78% in 2022 ^[4]. These questions are related but separate: a person may accept sex before marriage and still think married parents are best for children, or the reverse. The wider story is told on the page about British attitudes to sex before marriage.

The BSA also shows that age matters. In 2022 acceptance of pre-marital sex ranged from 89% among 18 to 24-year-olds to 64% among those aged 70 and over ^[4]. A large gap by religion remained, with 92% of people with no religion saying it was not wrong at all against 32% of non-Christian religious respondents ^[4]. No age or religion breakdown for the marry-before-children question was found in the sources consulted.

Does it matter legally whether parents are married?

For the child, the answer is largely no, but for the father it can matter. In England and Wales, the Family Law Reform Act 1987 (dated 15 May 1987) provides in section 1 that, unless a contrary intention appears, references to family relationships are to be read without regard to whether anyone's parents were married ^[5]. The Act was designed to remove the legal distinctions once attached to being born outside marriage.

Parental responsibility is the main remaining difference. Under section 2 of the Children Act 1989, a mother always has it, but a father has it automatically only if he was married to the mother, or in a civil partnership with her, when the child was born; otherwise he must acquire it ^[6]. A father who is not married to the mother can acquire it by jointly registering the birth with her, and a biological father also gains it by later marrying the mother ^[7]. In England and Wales the joint-registration route applies to births registered from 1 December 2003, when an amendment made by the Adoption and Children Act 2002 took effect ^[6].

Scotland and Northern Ireland reached the same result on different dates. In Scotland, an unmarried father registered as the child's father gained parental responsibilities under section 23 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, in force from 4 May 2006 but not for men registered before that date ^[11]. In Northern Ireland, an unmarried father acquires parental responsibility by being registered as the father, for births registered after 15 April 2002 ^[10]. The wider legal picture is set out on the page about the law on children born outside marriage.

Frequently asked questions

When did births outside marriage overtake births inside marriage?

In 2021, in England and Wales. That year 51.3% of live births were registered outside marriage or civil partnership, the first time this had happened since records began in 1845 ^[2]. The share was 51.4% in 2022 ^[1].

Does an unmarried father automatically have parental responsibility?

No. A mother has parental responsibility automatically, but an unmarried father generally has to acquire it ^[6]. The simplest route is to register the birth jointly with the mother, and he can also apply to a court or gain it by later marrying her ^[7]. The rules differ slightly in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have their own dates and registration systems ^[10][11].

Is the trend the same in Scotland and Northern Ireland?

Scotland shows a very similar level: National Records of Scotland recorded 51.7% of births to unmarried parents in 2024 ^[9]. For Northern Ireland, the 2024 NISRA material consulted gave the number of births (19,416) but no marital-status percentage, so no figure is given here ^[16]. The ONS series itself covers England and Wales only ^[14].

Are children of unmarried parents treated differently in law?

Generally not, in England and Wales. Section 1 of the Family Law Reform Act 1987 says that family relationships are read without regard to whether the parents were married, unless the law says otherwise ^[5]. The main difference concerns the father's parental responsibility, which is not automatic if he was not married to the mother ^[6].

Are most births outside marriage to lone mothers?

No. In 2022, 69.3% of births registered outside marriage or civil partnership were joint registrations by parents living at the same address ^[1]. The bulletin consulted does not break down the remaining 30.7% between joint registrations at different addresses and sole registrations ^[1].

Do civil partnerships count as marriage in these statistics?

Yes, for this measure. The ONS counts births as inside the relationship category when the mother is married or in a civil partnership, and as outside it otherwise ^[1]. The headline 51.4% therefore refers to births registered outside marriage or civil partnership.

How does the UK compare with other rich countries?

England and Wales at 51.4% in 2022 are above the OECD average of 43% reported for 2023 ^[1][12]. The OECD source does not give a UK value, and the years differ, so the comparison is only indicative. The OECD notes that the average was 7% in 1970, which shows how general the shift has been ^[12].