The typology of first marriage patterns in Europe

Abstract

This paper aims to present an overview of the main demographic characteristics of Europe’s inhabitants entering into first marriages in the 21st c. and the typology of male and female first marriage patterns in European countries in 2010 and 2018. Additionally, a special index is constructed to compare them for nuptiality as an element of the Second Demographic Transition (STD) in 2018. Also calculated are correlations between the types of first marriage patterns and selected demographic and economic indicators. In order to analyse European countries’ populations in terms of first marriages there were used such research methods as descriptive statistics, a cluster analysis, special STD index, and correlation coefficients. The basis of the analysis is data sourced from the Eurostat database. It appeared that the analysis of the males’ and female’s age-specific first marriage rates in the 31 European countries in 2010 and 2018 produced 22 types of first marriage patterns (which can be grouped into seven main categories). In the majority of European countries, the mean age at first marriage was older in 2018 than in 2010. Countries in Central and Eastern Europe are very different from the rest of the continent regarding the types of first marriage patterns. In 2018, the youngest types occurred in post-communist countries (especially in Belarus and Macedonia) and the oldest ones in Spain, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, and Sweden. Older types of first marriage patterns are characteristic of countries that are stronger economically and/or where the second demographic transition takes place at a faster pace.