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Illegitimacy in Aberdeen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Rachel Filinson
Rachel Filinson
Affiliation:
MRC Institute of Medical Sociology, Westburn Road, Aberdeen
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Summary

Since the 1960s, illegitimacy rates in Britain have increased and it is likely that the rise is related to a changing meaning of illegitimacy. Three cohorts of women bearing illegitimate babies in Aberdeen are studied in order to explore the social context of illegitimacy over the period of rising illegitimacy rates. One cohort of women bore their babies in 1954, a second cohort in 1964 and the third cohort in 1974. By using three sources of official data in conjunction—birth registrations, marriage registrations and hospital records—an effort is made to construct the careers of these women and thereby to obtain some insight into the circumstances in which illegitimacy occurs. It is found that there is a continuing pattern of women who bear illegitimate babies being young, single and primiparous, that the rates of marriage and timing of marriage after delivery of an illegitimate child for all three cohorts are similar and that there is no evidence of an increased incidence of cohabitation. More and better types of data on illegitimacy are needed to supplement the existing stock of official data.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , April 1982 , pp. 141 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © 1982, Cambridge University Press

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