Illegitimate children were even in the 20th Century still a deprivileged social group and their mothers, who mainly belonged to the lower social classes, were neglected too. That is why they faced many material distresses and social condemnation, from which the conjugal mothers were saved. Many of the illegitimate mothers therefore commited infanticide or left their illegitimate child in the foundling home. In time some men admitted to paternity of an illegitimate child and then married with the mother of the child, but such cases were in minority, according to the church registers. The situation of the illegitimate mothers and their children differed between some Slovenian historical lands, but the harshest attitude towards them was in Carniola. The share of the illegitimate children rose during the First World War, in comparison to the pre-War period.
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