Fertility of American Women: June 1994
The report, Fertility of American Women: June 1994
(P20-482) provides detailed fertility and socioeconomic characteristics of
American women 15 to 44 years old. The data for this report were
collected from the Fertility Supplement to the June 1994 Current
Population Survey (CPS).
Even though fertility data were collected sporadically in the
1950s, regular annual collection and compilation of fertility data
through CPS supplements did not begin until 1971. The CPS
supplements have been the major source of fertility measures
between the decennial census years as well as serving as a
benchmark for other private and federal surveys. They are the
principal surveys for evaluating past and present childbearing
patterns of women. The Bureau of the Census conducts Current
Population Surveys every month, although fertility data are
collected only in the month of June. The June supplement
questions on fertility relate to current and cumulative fertility
and birth expectations. Data on birth expectations were not
collected in the present survey and in 1984.
The printed report includes text, text tables, detailed tables
and appendixes. The appendixes include definitions and
explanations of the terms used in the report and the source and
accuracy of estimates shown in the report.
Selected portions of the text and text tables are placed on the
Internet. The text tables are divided into two categories--
"Current Fertility Profile" and "Historical Fertility Patterns".
A more detailed table known as the "Current Fertility Indicators:
June 1994", shows detailed national fertility rates by
socioeconomic characteristics categorized by age, race, marital
status, and parity. This table is available on paper and consists of
approximately 200 pages and costs $35.00. To purchase a copy of
"Current Fertility Indicators: June 1994" or the printed
report Fertility of American Women: June 1994 (P20-482)
contact us at the following address:
Fertility Statistics Branch
Population Division
Bureau of the Census
Washington, D.C. 20023
Phone: 301-457-2416
Fax: 301-457-2481
Also, the printed report can be purchased for $5.50 from the
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Data on fertility from the June Current Population Surveys of
1971 through 1992 were published in Current Population Report,
Series P-20. A list of these reports and other related reports
are placed on the INTERNET. If you want to purchase any of these
reports contact us at the above address.
For questions regarding this report or earlier reports contact:
Dr. Amara Bachu
Population Division
Bureau of the Census
Washington, D.C. 20233
Telephone: 301-457-2449
Fax: 301-457-2481
email: abachu@census.gov
If you have questions or problems related to accessing or reading
this report please contact:
Population Division
Bureau of the Census
Washington, D.C. 20233
Fax: 301-457-2481
email: pop@census.gov
Fertility of American Women: June 1994
(Note: All demographic surveys suffer from undercoverage of
the population. This undercoverage results from missed housing
units and missed persons within sample households. Compared to
the level of the 1990 Decennial Census, overall CPS undercoverage
is about 8 percent. Undercoverage varies with age, sex, and
race. For some groups such as 20 to 29 year old Black males, the
undercoverage is as high as 34 percent compared to the Census.
The population controls that are used in this survey have been
adjusted for undercount in the decennial census and partially
corrected for the bias due to undercoverage. However, the final
impact of the weighting procedures used by the Census Bureau on
the estimates is unknown. The estimates for data beginning in
the 1994 CPS are based on population controls using results from
the 1990 census brought forward to the survey date. Persons of
Hispanic origin may be of any race. The information on the
Hispanic population shown in this report was collected in the 50
States and the District of Columbia, and does not include
residents of Puerto Rico.)
Highlights
- Of the 60.0 million women 15 to 44 years old in June 1994, 3.9 (+
0.1) million had a child between July 1993 and June 1994. Twenty-six
(+2.2) percent of them had their children born out-of-wedlock (tables A
and C).
- Over one-half (53 (+1.9) percent) of the women who had a birth in
the last year were in the labor force (table H).
- About 15 (+1.4) percent (580,000 +94,000) of the births in 1994 were
to foreign-born women (table N).
- Women born in Mexico had high fertility rates (147 (+43.0) births
per 1,000) compared with women born in Europe (53 (+ 37) per 1,000) or
Asia (58 (+35.0) per 1,000). Fertility rates for women from Europe and
Asia were not statistically different from each other.
INTRODUCTION
This report provides detailed statistics on fertility and
socioeconomic characteristics of American women 15 to 44 years
old. The data were collected in the June 1994 Current Population
Survey. This section presents highlights of some of the most
important characteristics about current fertility patterns and
trends.
Current Fertility
- In both 1990 and 1994, 42 percent of women 15 to 44 years old
were childless (table F).
- About 42 percent of the women who had a birth between July 1993 and
June 1994 reported that birth as their first, up slightly from 39
percent for the year ending in June 1990 (table 4). 1/
- Of the 6.5 million Hispanic women 15 to 44 years old in 1994, 4.0
million reported that they were of Mexican ancestry (table B). The
fertility rate for Mexican-American women in 1994 was 111 births per
1,000, a rate about twice as high as for the non-Hispanic population (61
per 1,000). Women of Mexican ancestry averaged 1.6 children ever born,
about 0.4 children higher than non-Hispanic women.
- Fertility rates for women of Mexican ancestry were significantly
lower among those born in the U.S. (85 per 1,000) compared with those
women born in Mexico (143 per 1,000).
Out-of-wedlock childbearing
Births to Unmarried Women--
- The proportion of children born out-of-wedlock was 26 percent in
1994, not statistically different from the 1990 percent (table C).
- Of all births to Black women in 1994, 66 percent were to unmarried
women (women either never married, widowed, or divorced at the survey
date); this was more than three times that of White women (19 percent),
and more than two times that of Hispanic women (28 percent).
Births to Never-Married Women--
- About 38 percent of women 15 to 44 years old in 1994 had never been
married (table A). Of these 22.7 million never-married women, 20
percent had given birth to at least one child by the time of the survey
(table J).
- About 7 percent of never-married teenagers had borne a child, while
among women in their thirties, about 4 out of every 10 had borne a child
out-of-wedlock.
- Less than 1 in 2 never-married Black women had had a baby, compared
with about 1 in 4 Hispanic women and 1 in 8 White women.
International Comparisons of Out-of-wedlock Childbearing--
- Vital statistics data indicate that 30 percent of the births in the
United States in 1992 were to unmarried women. Comparable levels were
reported in Canada (29 percent), the United Kingdom (31 percent) and
France (33 percent) (table K).
- Almost one-half of all births in Denmark and Sweden were born to
women outside of marriage. In contrast, only 1 percent of the births to
women in Japan in 1992 were born out-of-wedlock.
Labor force Patterns of Women with Infants
- In June of 1994, 53 percent of women 15 to 44 years old who had a
child in the preceding 12 months were in the labor force, no change from
the rate in 1990 (table H). Of these 2.1 million women, 1.8 million
were employed. About 68 percent of these women were employed as full
time workers.
- Among mothers with newborn children, 70 percent of mothers who had
at least a bachelor's degree were in the labor force, compared with 48
percent who had completed only high school and 34 percent with less than
a high school diploma (table I). Among those women in the labor force
who gave birth in the last year, approximately 12 percent were living in
families whose reported total income was $75,000 and over. A similar
percentage of working women with children under 1 year of age were
living in low income families making under $10,000 a year.
Fertility of Foreign-born Women
- In 1994 there were 6.2 million foreign-born women 15 to 44 years
old. The fertility rate for these women was 93 births per 1,000 compared
with 62 births per 1,000 native-born women 15 to 44 years old (table N).
- Overall, 15 percent (580,000) of all births in the U.S. n 1994 were
to foreign-born women and the majority of these births (503,000) were to
women who were not citizens of the United States.
- Women born in Mexico comprised 30 percent of all foreign-born women
in the childbearing ages; and had 48 percent of the births of
foreign-born women.
- Among foreign-born women, those born in Mexico had the highest
fertility rate (147 births per 1,000) compared with 53 births per 1,000
for women born in Europe and 58 births for women born in Asia./2
USER COMMENTS
We are interested in your reaction to the new abbreviated style of this
report. We are also placing the text tables in this report on INTERNET
which can be located by accessing the fertility statistics component of
the Population Division menu at the Census Bureau.
Footnote
1/ 1990 data are from the Current Population Reports, Series
P-20, No. 454, table 4.
2/ Fertility rates for women from Europe and Asia were not
significantly different from each other.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division,
Fertility & Family Statistics Branch
Questions? / 1-866-758-1060
