The main objectives of this study were to determine the extent of unregistered births, the variables impacting birth registration, and the median lapse and transition probabilities from unregistered birth to registered birth. Data were taken from the 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008 Demographic and Health Surveys. The findings indicate that the percentage of unregistered children decreased from 26% to 6% över the last 15 years. Despite this improvement, in absolute numbers, 360,000 of 6 million children aged under five are stili unregistered in Turkey. The percentage increases to 56% among children of parents with only a religious marriage ceremony. There appears to be a positive relationship between the educational level of mothers and welfare of the household and the percentage of registered births. Another finding of the study showed that transition from unregistered to registered is a dynamic process rather than a static state. Analyses done by life table technique revealed that children born to women whose mother tongue is Kurdish, children born to parents with only a religious marriage ceremony and children living in poor households are the most resistant groups in terms of birth registration. Most of the unregistered children, except for these resistant groups, experienced the transition from unregistered state to registered state by age 5.

Keywords: nüfus kaydı, hayat tablosu, imam nikahı, anadil, Türkiye.