America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2011

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 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, 1980–2009

• There were 50.6 births for every 1,000 unmarried women ages 15–44 in 2009.¹⁰
• Between 1980 and 1994, the birth rate for unmarried women ages 15–44 increased from 29.4 to 46.2 per 1,000. Between 1995 and 2002, the rate fluctuated little, ranging from 42.9 to 44.3 per 1,000; from 2002 to 2008, however, the rate increased from 43.7 to 52.5 per 1,000, before declining to 50.6 per 1,000 in 2009.^{8, 10, 11}
• Rates in 2008 remained highest for women ages 20–24 (79.2 per 1,000), followed closely by the rate for women ages 25–29 (76.1 per 1,000).^{6, 12}
• The birth rate among unmarried adolescents ages 15–19 declined between 1994 and 2005, increased in 2006 and 2007, and then decreased slightly in 2008. Among adolescent subgroups, the rate for adolescents ages 15–17 declined from 31.7 per 1,000 in 1994 to 19.7 in 2005 and has changed little since (it was 20.6 in 2008). For adolescents ages 18–19, the birth rate declined from 1994 to 2003 and increased annually from 2003 to 2007; the rate declined in 2008, when it was 61.9 per 1,000.
• Birth rates for unmarried women in their twenties changed relatively little during the mid- to late 1990s. In the 2000s, for women ages 20–24, the rate rose from 70.5 per 1,000 in 2002 to 79.2 in 2008, and, for women ages 25–29, the rate rose from 58.5 per 1,000 in 2000 to 76.1 in 2008. Birth rates for unmarried women ages 30–44 have steadily increased since the late 1990s.
• The proportion of women of childbearing age who were unmarried continued to rise to over half in 2009. However, nonmarital cohabitation has remained relatively unchanged: nearly 3 in 10 unmarried women ages 25–29 in 2002 were in cohabiting relationships.¹³

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 limited.¹⁴ 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.¹⁵

Indicator Fam2.B: Percentage of all births to unmarried women by age of mother, 1980 and 2009

• In 2009, 41 percent of all births were to unmarried women.¹⁰
• The percentage of all births to unmarried women rose from 18 percent of total births in 1980 to 33 percent in 1994. From 1994 to 2002, the percentage ranged from 32 to 34 percent. The percentage has increased more rapidly since 2002, reaching 41 percent in 2009.
• Between 1980 and 2009, the proportion of births to unmarried women rose for women in all age groups. Among adolescents, the proportion was high throughout the period and rose from 62 to 94 percent for ages 15–17 and from 40 to 84 percent for ages 18–19. The proportion more than tripled for births to women in their twenties, rising from 19 to 62 percent for ages 20–24 and from 9 to 34 percent for ages 25–29. The proportion of births to unmarried women in their thirties more than doubled, from 8 to 20 percent.^{8, 10, 12}
• Nearly half of first births were to unmarried women in 2009. Almost three-fourths of births to women under age 25 having their first child were nonmarital.¹⁶
• 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 more rapidly than the number of married women, as women from the baby boom generation postponed marriage.^{8, 16, 17}
• 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 Since 2002, the rate of increase in the proportion of births to unmarried women has grown, reflecting increases, especially among adult women aged 20 and older, in nonmarital birth rates concurrent with relatively little change in birth rates for married women.^{8, 16}

 FAM2.A HTML Table, FAM2.B HTML Table