HC Deb 16 May 1985 vol 79 c232W
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of total live births in Scotland for each of the last 20 years was represented by children who were born to unmarried parents.

Mr. John MacKay

The information is as follows:

Illegitimate births: 1965–84
Total births Illegitimate births Percentage
1965 100,660 5,883 5.84
1966 96,536 6,160 6.38
1967 96,221 6,663 6.92
1968 94,786 6,998 7.38
1969 90,290 6,733 7.46
1970 87,335 6,712 7.69
1971 86,728 7,029 8.10
1972 78,550 6,661 8.48
1973 74,392 6,520 8.76
1974 70,093 5,349 9.06
1975 67,943 6,314 9.29
1976 64,895 6,025 9.28
1977 62,342 5,968 9.57
1978 64,295 6,304 9.80
1979 68,366 6,960 10.18
1980 68,892 7,678 11.14
1981 69,054 8,447 12.23
1982 66,196 9,395 14.19
1983 66,078 9,581 14.72
1984* 65,106 10,640 16.34
*Provisional figures.