(Sofia News Agency)- - Bulgaria holds one of the first places in Eastern Europe for illegitimately born children, figures of the Social Policy Ministry show.

In the early 1990s only 12% of the children were born out of wedlock while the figures for 2006 are 49%.

The Social Policy Ministry reports that birth rate keeps lagging. Bulgarian women now often decide to have just one baby and according to experts this is quite insufficient to keep the normal nations' reproduction level.

It has become a common practice for women in Bulgaria and all over the world to advance in their career first and then bear children. The cause may be that they feel more independent, and confident than ever and many believe they now have equal chances as men. Women prefer to give birth to babies without having married their life partner first, or without even sharing their life with the father.

This trend may continue growing in Bulgaria, especially with the Social Policy Ministry mulling a law that would allow unmarried fathers to receive social benefits for their children. At present only single moms can be granted such state allowance, but if the father wants cash, he has to be married to the mother