The place of Romania in the European context. If the demographic situation in the country was and is serious, with catastrophic prospects presented in previous articles, there is a demographic phenomenon, the level of which gives Romania a special place among the 27 member states of the European Union. Marriage data in 2021, marriages per 1,000 inhabitants, puts our country in second place with 6 marriages, only Hungary recorded a higher level in 2021. The average level of the indicator in the EU-27 was 3.9 ppm, a third of the country is below this level.

However, it is worth adding a warning. Eurostat has had and continues to have increasing difficulties in presenting data on weddings in a context where consensual unions, civil partnerships and other alternative forms of traditional marriage are expanding massively. Data comparison is getting worse. However, the data in the picture still confirm the special status of marriage and the traditional family in our country. The final figures for the 2021 census are poor in terms of the married population, covering only women by age group. There is no data on cohabiting men, and we do not have a distribution of demographic, cultural, educational, economic characteristics for either women or men to be able to characterize the undisputed reality. According to the census, the number of married women was 360,000, which is 4.1 percent of the female population aged 11 and over. The real number is undoubtedly higher, but caution, caution and, perhaps, fear played and play the role of a barrier to declaring the real situation. The data in the figure, especially in the bottom third of the ranking, should be viewed with due caution regarding some lesser-known realities in Romania, the expansion of alternative forms of the traditional family. On the graph, France is in last place, with only 2.3 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants. In 2019, there were 225,000 marriages in France, the rate of which is decreasing, and 196,000. PACSconstantly progressing level (Civil Solidarity Pact: a contract concluded between two adults of different or same sex) [2].

Development after 2000

How weddings developed after 2000, we can see in Figure 2. Unusual, even “messy” events. Significant changes occurring over time in the marriage rate have two types of determinants: demographic and socio-economic. Demographic refers to the size of the population, where most marriages take place, 20-34 years old. The decline in population at this age over time, caused by earlier declines in the birth rate as well as high emigration, means fewer marriages and, implicitly, a decline in the marriage rate. One might object to the correlation, given that the regression of the 20-34 year old population corresponds to the regression of the entire population, the speed is not necessarily decreasing.

The observation is true, but there is an effect of differential reductions at the level of age groups. The number of the young population is decreasing, but the regression from adulthood and older age occurs more slowly, which ensures such a rhythm at the level of the entire population. We do not find an explanation in demography alone, other definitions must be explored. A period of long and stable economic growth with a consistent change in living standards against the background of a well-formed social and political climate can contribute to an increase in the number of marriages. Desire, inclination, disposition and interest in marriage have favorable support. However, the development of marriage in such a context is initially slow, young couples also take into account its sustainability from the point of view of the birth of a child and its future. However, there may be situations where specific marriage promotion measures can have a positive, even unexpected, effect. The recrudescences marked in the figure at points A and B are the result of such determinations. At the end of October 2006, the Parliament of Romania adopted a law providing financial support for the creation of a family in which each of the spouses is in their first marriage. The support is equivalent to 200 euros in lei [3]. The striking effects of the measure in 2007 and 2008 are those mentioned in point A. The measure is recognized to have identified a significant number of people who are in consensual unions or who have married according to the rules and traditions of a particular minority to formalize their consensual union. And the increase from point B is explained by measures to encourage young people to marry. In May 2017, the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest decided to grant a financial aid of 1,500 lei net to young people who get married (at least one of the spouses is in their first marriage; at least one of the spouses has a residence or place of residence in Bucharest; age at least one of the spouses from 18 to 35 years old [4].The increase in the number of marriages in 2017 amounted to 10 thousand. It should not be forgotten that more than 24 thousand marriages in 2017 in Bucharest represent 17 percent of all marriages, which is an example of the statistical sensitivity of the whole due to the increase of one of its main components. Similar measures could be taken in other places. Such sensitivity of the youth to modest financial measures only shows the poverty in which the youth live. From whom does the political class expect to restore the birth rate.

Marriage rates have fallen significantly in 2020 due to travel restrictions, isolation and the effects of the virus. The downward trend in the share of the population aged 20-35 does not bode well, and in the first 9 months of 2023 the number of marriages is 16 percent lower than in the previous year. Two years of pandemic, energy crises, inflation and deterioration of living standards, as well as the whole tense political atmosphere cannot be favorable factors for a wedding.

return The French have a saying “On revient toujours sur les lieux du crime“. The word “murder” can also be given a figurative meaning. Through this article, the author returns to the problems of weddings in our country after 30 years. And even returns to current issues marriage market and marriage squeeze is considered in another section of the article. This is a 1992 report: “Sudden Fertility Change and Its Effects on the Marriage Market, Timing and Incidence of Marriage in Romania.” Seminar: Demographic consequences of marital status. Organizers: European Association for Population Studies – EAPS and Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung-BIB, Bonn, October 27-31, 199). Other problems of the country’s population were considered more important in the following years: the decline in the birth rate, the situation with mortality and life expectancy, migration, depopulation, prospects for the country’s population, population censuses. The return to marriage takes place in Europe, where the family and its children are subjected to multiple pressures.

Married women and men by marital status by age

In the context of the absence of situations in contraction of marriage the gap between the age of marriage/remarriage of partners, i.e. younger wives, can be observed in Figure 3 for all marital statuses, with some peculiarities. The age distribution of women and men at first marriage in 2022 (uncorrelated age) shows a significant concentration between 20 and 25, as expected. You can see more women marrying at the youngest age, under 25, and more men after 30. According to unwritten laws, young women want husbands 3 years older, and men 3 years younger. The average age of first marriage in 2022 was 32.1 years for men and 28.8 years for women. It is difficult to understand on whose side the desire to have a husband 3 years older or a wife 3 years younger is more decisive. Perhaps from the husband’s side.

The age range for remarriage of divorced people is higher, particularly between 30 and 50, when the divorce occurs after several years of marriage. In this interval, there is a higher number of women remarrying, implying a higher propensity to remarry, but compensation occurs after age 55 for men, with more married divorced men. The origin also stems from the higher age at divorce of these men compared to women’s average age at marriage and divorce.

The age at marriage of widowed individuals is much more scattered and shows a younger population of women remarrying than the population of men remarrying after widowhood. Widowhood occurs more often in women in mature and especially old age, younger than their deceased spouses (the high mortality rate of men is noticeable). One can note the large number of widowed men who remarry after the age of 65, more than widowed women who marry at the same age. A hypothesis could also be that the transfer and acceptance of widowhood is difficult for men of this age, in good health, after a long life spent in marriage, and the desire to remarry is more important than for widowed women of the same age. Two-thirds of widowed men who remarry after age 64 choose women 5 years younger, probably younger widows.

Marriages by marital status of spouses

Analysis of the correlational marital status of people who get married shows important changes over time (Fig. 4). It dominated and naturally dominates in marriages between unmarried women and men. During the period 1976-2018, these marriages accounted for 80 percent of all annual marriages. Smaller shares in the extreme years of the period have a different origin. As can be seen in the graph, the rollback from 1956-1966 (in A) is the result of an increase in the proportion of marriages between unmarried women and divorced men, between single men and divorced women, and between women and divorced men (in A’). Divorced people play a big role. The increase in the share in 1967 and its maintenance at high values ​​until 1975 (at B) comes from a decrease in the share of the three mentioned types of marriages (with divorced persons) (at B’) in the context of extremely restrictive divorce legislation passed by the governors (State Council Decree No. 779 of October 8, 1966). We also note a resurgence in the number of marriages between unmarried persons in 1990-1993 (at C) and three other types of marriages (at C’), in the new political and social context after December 1989 and the hope it sowed. The mentioned increase in the number of rank 1 marriages since 2007 due to this financial stimulus is seen in point D, with the opposite effect on the shares of other types of marriages (in D’) and the negative effects of the pandemic in 2020. on marriages between singles Surprisingly, there was also an effect of increasing the number and proportion of marriages between divorced men and divorced women, and between single men and divorced women (on E’). Here, the desire to get married overcame the barriers of isolation and restrictions on movement. The general pattern of changes emphasizes the sensitivity of the population in making the decision to marry in relation to restrictive or stimulating measures. – Read the entire article and comment on Contributors.ro