Economy prompts fewer marriages, births in 2013

The number of births and marriages dropped in 2013 compared to previous years, the Central Bureau for Statistics CBS has reported.

In total there were 74,000 marriages and partnerships registered last year, 6,000 less than in 2012. CBS specified that the number of partnerships registered increased slightly and the number of weddings went down. Most people who registered partnerships preferred to do so on a Monday, when this can be done cheaply and even for free in some parishes. In 2013 the Netherlands welcomed 171,000 children to this world, 5,000 less than the previous year. CBS stressed that the the fewer births did not mean there were fewer women of childbearing age; the institute said that like the drop in marriage numbers, the drop in births was connected to the economic conjuncture.