In Malta the total fertility rate for 2004 stood at 1.37, which is well below the rate of 2.1 which is considered to be the replacement level for developed countries.
Figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) show that the total number of live births per year has decreased from 5,568 registered in 1990 to 3,887 last year. These statistics were published on the occasion of the International Day of Families, which I celebrated on 15th May.
In contrast however, the proportion of births outside marriage has increased at a considerable rate. In 1990, there were 95 live births out of wedlock. By 2004, this figure has increased to 744 which accounts for 19.14 per cent of all live births in 2004.
The average household size has been also on the decrease. According to estimates from the Labour Force Survey for the last quarter of 2004, the average household size is of three persons.
Population ageing is also another current characteristic trend of the Maltese population. The percentage of the population aged 60+ has almost doubled between 1921 and 2004. Clearly, ageing has a considerable impact on inter-generational solidarity, housing, social security systems, care-giving and health costs.
Consequently, both directly and indirectly, the implications of demographic ageing affect the family unit.
NSO also reported statistics regarding the creation of new parent-child relationships through adoptions. In 2004, a total of 70 children ranging in ages from newborns to 18 year-olds, were adopted in Malta. Slightly over a third of these adoptions involved Maltese-born children.
Changing trends in marriages constitute another significant shift in family structures and dynamics. Nuptiality is on the decrease and the crude marriage rate for 2003 was of 6.1. The proportion of marriages that are not first marriages, on the other hand, are on the increase. For 6.9 per cent of all brides and 8.2 per cent of all bridegrooms in 2003, their marriage in 2003 was not their first. The corresponding percentage of remarriage for both brides and bridegrooms in 1970 was of 0.6 per cent.
Furthermore, when considering the age distribution of newly weds over the years, there appears to be a trend of postponement of marriage. For instance, in 1970 the majority of bridegrooms (50.3 per cent) belonged to the 20–24 age group. However, by 2003, the 25–29 age group accounted for 43.9 per cent of all bridegrooms for that year, thus becoming the most prevalent age group for bridegrooms. A similar but slower transition is also apparent for brides.
In conclusion and on a different note, the Time-Use Survey conducted by NSO in 2002 sheds some light on the amount of time the Maltese spend on housework and family care. Per weekday, the survey indicates that a person dedicates an average of 3.3 hours to domestic work. This figure is slightly less – 2.8 hours for weekend days. There are also significant differences between males and females, and between single and married individuals. Overall, married women constitute the category of individuals that spend most time on housework and family care. In fact married women spend on average 6.3 hours on domestic work during weekdays, and 4.9 hours on weekend days.
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