Births to Unmarried Women — End of the Increase?

by AmeriStat staff

See graph 1 (PDF: 48KB)

See graph 2 (PDF: 19KB)

(AmeriStat, January 2003) In 1950, about 3 percent of all births were to unmarried women. This percentage has increased steadily over the past 50 years, and by 2001, there were 1.3 million births to unmarried women, accounting for a third of all births in the United States. Since 1991, the percentage of nonmarital births has increased, but at a slower pace compared with earlier decades.

Three factors account for most of the increase in nonmarital births: the proportion of women of reproductive age who are unmarried has increased; fertility rates of married women have declined; and the fertility rates of unmarried women have risen gradually, as shown in the graphs on this page. Fertility rates of unmarried women have more than tripled since the early 1950s. This increase is paradoxical to many, given that effective methods of contraception became widely available, and induced abortion was legalized, in the 1960s and 1970s. Contraception and abortion probably explain the temporary decline in nonmarital fertility rates from the mid-1960s until the mid-1970s, but the increase in the 1980s has no simple explanation.

Fertility rates of unmarried women in their 20s are higher than the rates of teenagers. However, because younger women face greater challenges as single parents, most public discussion focuses on preventing teen pregnancies. The fertility rate of unmarried teenagers has fallen in recent years from its high point of 46.4 births per 1,000 unmarried women ages 15 to 19 in 1994 to 37.4 in 2001.

In 2001, nonmarital fertility was highest among Hispanic women (98 births per 1,000 women in 2001) and black women (73 births per 1,000 women). The 2001 rate for non-Hispanic white women was 28 births per 1,000 women.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, www.cdc.gov/nchs/.

References

J.A. Martin et al., "Births: Final Data for 2001," National Vital Statistics Reports 51, no. 2 (2002); J.A. Martin et al., "Births: Final Data for 2000," National Vital Statistics Reports 50, no. 5 (2002); S.J. Ventura et al., "Births: Final Data for 1999," National Vital Statistics Reports 49, no. 1 (2001); S.J. Ventura et al., "Births: Final Data for 1998," National Vital Statistics Reports 48, no. 3 (2000); S.J. Ventura et al., "Births: Final Data for 1997," National Vital Statistics Reports 47, no. 18 (1999); S.J. Ventura et al., "Report of Final Natality Statistics, 1996," Monthly Vital Statistics Report 46, no. 11, Supplement (1998); S.J. Ventura et al., "Report of Final Natality Statistics, 1995," Monthly Vital Statistics Report 45, no. 11, Supplement (1997); S.J. Ventura et al., "Advance Report of Final Natality Statistics, 1994," Monthly Vital Statistics Report 44, no. 11, Supplement (1996); National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States, 1993, Volume I, Natality (Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999); National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States, 1979, Volume I, Natality (Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1984); National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States, 1969, Volume I, Natality (Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1974); and National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States, 1963, Volume I, Natality (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1964).

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