Increased birth rate for Danish women

Beskrivelse

Danish women are giving birth more, while immigrant women are cutting back on their number of children. A new report from Statistics Denmark shows that Danish women are having more children than ever. Last year, women of child-bearing age had an average of 1.9 children, which is the highest figure since 1975. Welfare researcher Karen Sjørup of Roskilde University told Berlingske Tidende newspaper that most Danish couples want two children and no longer face financial or career barriers by having more children. ‘The mum and dad can look after a job and career and at the same time there are good opportunities for childcare in nurseries and kindergartens. In addition, we also are well covered by maternity leave,’ said Sjørup. Meanwhile, other figures from the statistics agency show that families from non-Western countries who settle in Denmark are having fewer children than before. These foreign women gave birth to an average of 3.04 children in 1998, but that figure fell to an average of 1.94 by last year. Garbi Schmidt from the National Research Center for Welfare said that the falling figures were as a result of immigrant women adopting the norms and values of fellow Danish mothers.