America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007

Births to Unmarried Women

Increases in births to unmarried women are among the many changes in American society that have affected family structure and the economic security of children.⁴ Children of unmarried mothers are at higher risk of having adverse birth outcomes such as low birthweight and infant mortality than are children of married mothers. They are also more likely to live in poverty than children of married mothers.^{5, 6, 7, 8, 9}

Indicator FAM2.A: Birth rates for unmarried women by age of mother, 1980–2005

• There were 48 births for every 1,000 unmarried women ages 15–44 in 2005.¹⁰
• Between 1980 and 1994, the birth rate for unmarried women ages 15–44 increased from 29 to 46 per 1,000. Between 1995 and 2002, the rate fluctuated little, ranging from 43 to 44 per 1,000; since 2002, however, the rate has increased.^{8, 10, 11}
• Between 1994 and 2004, birth rates for unmarried women declined for women under age 20, increased somewhat for women ages 20–24, and increased for women 25–29 through 40–44 years of age.^{6, 7, 8} Specifically, the rates for younger teens ages 15–17 fell more than one-third, from 32 to 20 per 1,000. Rates in 2004 remained highest for women ages 20–24 (73 per 1,000), followed closely by the rate for women ages 25–29 (69 per 1,000).^{6, 11}
• There was a long-term rise between 1960 and 1994 in the nonmarital birth rate, which is linked to a number of factors.⁸ The proportion of women of childbearing age who were unmarried increased from under one-third in 1960 to almost half in 1994. Concurrently, there was an increase in nonmarital cohabitation.¹² The likelihood that an unmarried woman would marry before the child was born declined steeply from the early 1960s to the early 1980s, and continued to fall, although more modestly, through the 1990s.^{11 ,13} At the same time, childbearing within marriage fell by almost half between 1960 and 1994.^{6, 7, 8, 11}
• After several years of relative stability beginning in the mid- to late-1990s, the birth rate for unmarried women has increased since 2002. The proportion of women of childbearing age who were unmarried continued to rise, to over half in 2005. In 2002, however, nonmarital cohabitation remained relatively unchanged: nearly 3 in 10 unmarried women ages 25–29 were in cohabiting relationships.¹⁴

Children are at greater risk for adverse consequences when born to a single mother because the social, emotional, and financial resources available to the family may be more limited.¹⁵ The proportion of births to unmarried women is useful for understanding the extent to which children born in a given year may be affected by any disadvantage—social, financial, or health—associated with being born outside of marriage. The change in the percentage of births to unmarried women reflects changes in the birth rate for unmarried women relative to the birth rate for married women.¹⁶

Indicator FAM2.B: Percentage of all births to unmarried women by age of mother, 1980 and 2005

• In 2005, 37 percent of all births were to unmarried women.
• The percentage of all births to unmarried women rose sharply from 18 percent in 1980 to 33 percent in 1994. From 1994 to 2000, the percentage ranged from 32 to 33 percent. The percentage increased more rapidly since 2000, reaching 37 percent in 2005.
• Between 1980 and 2005, the proportion of births to unmarried women rose sharply for women in all age groups. Among teenagers, the proportion was high throughout the period and rose from 62 to 90 percent for ages 15–17 and from 40 to 79 percent for ages 18–19. The proportion tripled for births to women in their twenties, rising from 19 to 56 percent for ages 20–24 and from 9 to 29 percent for ages 25–29. The proportion of births to unmarried women in their thirties more than doubled from 8 to 17 percent.¹⁷
• Nearly 4 in 10 total births, including more than 4 in 10 first births, were to unmarried women in 2004. More than two thirds of women under age 25 having their first child were not married.¹⁷
• The increases in the proportion of births to unmarried women, especially during the 1980s, were linked to increases in the birth rates for unmarried women in all age groups during this period. In addition, the number of unmarried women increased by about one-fourth, as women from the baby boom generation postponed marriage.^{17, 18}
• During the late 1990s, the rate of increase in the proportion of births to unmarried women slowed. The comparative stability was linked to a renewed rise in birth rates for married women.^{6, 8} The rate of increase in the proportion of births to unmarried women was greater in the 2000s, reflecting large increases in nonmarital birth rates concurrent with relatively little change in birth rates for married women.

 FAM2A HTML Table, FAM2B HTML Table

 FAM2A Excel Table, FAM2B Excel Table