Statistics Estonia: Estonian mothers in numbers
On the second Sunday of May, 427,900 mothers will celebrate Mother's Day. For the first time, 3,700 women will be able to celebrate the holiday, while 12 mothers have been in their role for over 80 years. What do Statistics Estonia's data show about Estonian mothers?
Terje Trasberg, head of the Population and Education Statistics team at Statistics Estonia, said that the average Estonian mother is 57 years old. "It is also known that younger-than-average mothers live in Harju County (the average age there is 54.8 years) and Tartu County (the average age is 55.2 years)," he added.
The age of the first-time mother is approaching 29
The data reveals even more interesting facts. Namely, there are currently more women over the age of 40 giving birth than women under the age of 20. It also turns out that there are 26 mothers under the age of 18 in Estonia.
“There are 12,418 mothers who gave birth as minors in Estonia. In 1995, minors accounted for 14% of those who gave birth, and in 2024, less than 1%. In 2004, mothers over 40 accounted for 2% of those who gave birth, and now this percentage is 7,” explained the analyst, adding that while in 1990 the average age of a first-time mother was 22.7, now this age is approaching 29.
There are also many mothers in Estonia who have more children than average. This means that there are 143 mothers living in Estonia who have given birth to more than 10 children, and five of them have all their children as minors. “One in six mothers living in Estonia have given birth to more than 15 children. 38% of mothers have one child, 42% have two, 15% have three, and 5% have four or more children,” said Trasberg.
Mothers with children of both sexes are the most
According to the analyst, 42% of Estonian mothers are married when they have a child. “While 32% of women are married when they have their first child, 46% are already married by the time they have their second child. By the time they have their third or more children, 55%, or more than half, are married,” he noted.
32% of Estonian mothers have only sons (or a son). 31% are mothers of only daughters (or a daughter), and the largest number, or 37%, are mothers of both sexes.
But how much time do Estonian mothers devote to their children? “The time-use survey shows that mothers with at least one child under the age of 18 devote an average of 93 minutes, or an hour and a half, a day to caring for, teaching and accompanying the child, playing with and talking to the child,” said the analyst.
