CHILDBEARING OUTSIDE MARRIAGE – A CASE STUDY OF MACEDONIA

The wide range of demogeographic changes that the population in the Republic of Macedonia is facing today are mutually conditioned and followed up one with another. These changes can be recognized in the declining number of marriages and births, delayed marriage until the optimal reproductive age of the women, new forms of illegitimate unions, increased number of divorces, childbearing outside marriage and more. The changes are mainly caused because of the individualization, the emancipation of women, personal freedom, rejection of the traditional moral norms and gender roles. The appearance of childbearing outside marriage in the Republic of Macedonia is not a new phenomenon, but from a geographical point of view it has not been analyzed in details so far. The number of children born outside marriage in the last five decades does not record any significant changes, but when it comes to the percentage share, the values are slightly increasing, especially in the last two decades. Most of the children born outside marriage are born as a first child of the mother, but the share of births of higher order is constantly increasing which shows that childbearing outside marriage is becoming more a matter of choice. The main aim of this paper is to note the differences in the number of births outside marriage and to analyze the demogeographic and ethnic characteristics of women who have given birth in the period from 1970 to 2017 in order to predict the future trends.