Statistics: 125 mothers in Estonia have 10 or more children
There are 125 mothers in Estonia with 10 or more children living in Estonia, as well as 139 grandmothers with 20 or more grandchildren living in Estonia, data compiled by Statistics Estonia for Mother's Day (May 9) shows.
At the beginning of 2020, there were 408,579 mothers and 216,203 grandmothers in Estonia who had children or grandchildren living Estonia. The statistics by analyst Koit Meres leave aside mothers and grandmothers whose children or grandchildren are dead or have left Estonia.
The proportion of mothers raising one child is 37.7 percent, that of mothers with two children 43.4 percent, whereas 14.1 percent of mothers raise three children. The proportions of mothers with four, five or more children are significantly lower.
On average, a mother living in Estonia has 1.9 children. The figure is lowest in Ida-Viru County and Harju County, and highest in Jõgeva County and Järva County.
Taking into account all the women living in Estonia, the average number of children is highest in the age groups 40-44 and 45-49. The proportion of mothers among women aged 15 and above is highest in Rapla County at 75.2 percent and in Järva County at 73.8 percent, and lowest in Valga County at 69.2 percent and in Harju County at 65.9 percent.
Of mothers, 68.2 percent are Estonians, 26.4 percent are Russians and 5.2 percent are of other nationalities. The average number of children of Estonian mothers is 2.0, whereas ethnic Russian mothers have 1.63 children on the average. Of mothers, 43.2 percent are married, 20.7 percent are divorced, 19.2 percent are single and 15.4 percent are widowed. The average number of children is highest for married mothers, 2.02, and the lowest for singles, 1.69 percent. The category of singles includes, for example, unmarried mothers with a partner.
As many as 3,356 grandmothers in Estonia have between 10 and 19 grandchildren, and 139 women have 20 or more grandchildren. However, not every grandmother has a child in Estonia, as we have 5,693 grandmothers, equaling 2.6 percent of all grandmothers, who have a grandchild or grandchildren, but no children, in Estonia.
The youngest grandmothers are in the 35-39 age group, and in total there are 230 grandmothers of that age group living in Estonia. Altogether 89 grandmothers meanwhile are 100 years old or older.
The Estonian version of this blog post can be read on the Statistics Estonia website.
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Editor: Helen Wright