According to data released on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics, 25,000 fewer babies were born in 2022 than in 2021. This is the year with a negative record since 1930.

In 2022, slightly more than 170,000 children were born against almost 200,000 in 2021.

We remind you that in Karash-Severin, the number of children under the age of 14 decreased by almost 25% between the two censuses (2021 and 2011). From the point of view of the number of educational units and the need for teachers, this is a disaster. Also, the number of school-age children in Olt, Gorzh, Hunedoara and Teleorman decreased by 20%.

“The 1961 generation was the last to provide replacement level. All other generations fall below the replacement level,” Professor Vasile Getseu explained at the conference the other day.

Society is changing and not only in Romania. According to Eurostat, over the past 60 years, drastic changes have taken place from this point of view.

These changes are taking place against the backdrop of an unprecedented demographic decline.

In such conditions, the number of teachers will have to be consistently reduced (they will no longer have anyone to teach), the business of producers of auxiliary materials for school or toys will decrease, and other indirect economic effects will appear.

It is interesting that there are more children born out of wedlock in the village than in the city. Which can also be a blow to the traditional image of the family, which rural communities are trying to promote. There are several counties where the number of children born in rural areas out of wedlock exceeds 50%: Kelerashi, Ialomica, Teleorman or Mures, for example.

More than 70% of couples say they do not want children now. Financial aspects – financial situation and uncertainty about job security are decisive in the decision to have (another) child.

“Since 1992, we have seen an increase in the number of births out of wedlock, with their share progressing from 15% (1992) to more than 31% (2020). Paradoxically, the rural environment was more affected by this phenomenon. The majority of children born out of wedlock come from young women under the age of 25 (approximately 60.2%).

The moment of conception of a child, as a rule, precedes the moment of marriage

• Of course, these differences between the average age of the first birth and the average age of the first marriage, and especially the negative difference that often occurs after 2003, are also due to the increase in the share of out-of-wedlock births, that is, very young. women who, by not marrying, no longer contribute to the average age at first marriage, although it does contribute to the average age at the birth of the first child,” INS researchers point out in an article on the evolution of fertility and birth rates.

• Among the counties with a high birth rate, those counties with a lower degree of urbanization and a higher proportion of young population stand out.

• Demographic policy measures to ban abortion, adopted at the end of 1966, had the effect of a strong recovery in the birth rate, especially in the first years of the decree’s application, when on average more than 526,000 children were born annually, the rates were 27.4 per mille (in 1967) and 26.7 per mille, respectively (in 1968).

• After 1980, there was a decline in the number of live births, averaging less than 400,000 children per year, and between 1980 and 1989, the birth rate ranged from 14 to 18 per thousand. Factors of prenatal coercion had only a short-term effect.

• “In births where the mother is under 20 years of age, three-quarters of children are out of wedlock, while in births to women over 20, less than a quarter are out of wedlock. Seven out of ten newborns of Romanian women who gave birth before the age of 20 (in marriage) were conceived before marriage. This means that these marriages were also concluded under the pressure of women’s pregnancies. In rural areas, almost 20% do not have a recognized father, while in the age group of women over 20 who have given birth to a child, the proportion falls below 5%. In the case of Roma, the share of women who give birth under the age of 20 is 10 times higher than that of young mothers over 20 years old,” the sociologist explained at the special conference.