Highlights
of a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
Births to Unmarried
Mothers: United States, 1980-92
Vital and Health
Statistics Series 21, No. 53
For Release June 6,
1995
American women become
sexually active at earlier ages and marry later, increasing both the risk
and the hazard of unmarried childbearing in the United States. One of
every three births in America is to an unmarried mother. In 1992 there
were 1.2 million births to unmarried women, almost double the number in
1980. The rate of unmarried childbearing has increased rapidly since 1980,
with the recent increase most pronounced for white women aged 20 years and
over. Still, rates of nonmarital childbearing are highest among black
women and the overwhelming majority of all teenage mothers -- 70 percent
-- are not married. Unmarried mothers tend to have poorer birth outcomes
than married mothers because they are disproportionately young, poorly
educated, and more likely to be poor.
A comprehensive
analysis of the trends in births to unmarried mothers and the health
aspects of childbearing by unmarried women has been prepared by the
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Data highlights
The rate of nonmarital
childbearing rose 54 percent from 29.4 births per 1,000 unmarried women
aged 15-44 years in 1980 to 45.2, the rate in both 1991 and 1992.
In 1980 one in five
births was nonmarital; in 1992, almost one in three births (30.1 percent)
were to unmarried women. This reflects not only the rise in unmarried
births but the declining fertility among married women.
Birth rates for
unmarried women have risen sharply for women in all age groups, but
particularly among women in the 20 years and over age group. Consequently,
only 30 percent of unmarried women giving birth in 1992 were teenagers.
Birth rates for
unmarried black women have consistently been higher than for unmarried
white women. Over the past decade, however, the disparity by race has
declined dramatically due primarily to the rising rate for white women.
Since 1980 the nonmarital birth rate for white women rose 94 percent and
the rate for black women increased only 7 percent during that same time
period.
In 1992 births rates
for unmarried Hispanic women (95.3 per 1,000) were higher than for black
women (86.5) and white women (35.2).
Differences by race and
Hispanic origin primarily reflect differences in education, income, access
to health care, marriage patterns, sexual activity, and contraceptive use.
Unmarried mothers are
more likely than their married counterparts to be poorly educated. Among
unmarried women aged 20 years and over, women with less than a high school
diploma are at least three times as likely to have a baby as unmarried
women with some college.
Unmarried mothers and
their babies have a generally less favorable health status, even when
differences in age and education are taken into account. Unmarried mothers
are less likely to receive adequate prenatal care and less likely to gain
adequate weight during pregnancy. Unmarried mothers are twice as likely to
smoke while pregnant and, among mothers aged 20 years and over, about
twice as likely to have a low birthweight baby. Low birthweight is a major
predictor of infant illness and mortality.
The source of data for
this report is the certificate of live birth filed for each child born in
the United States and reported to NCHS through the Vital Statistics
Cooperative Program.
For more information
or to arrange an interview with the author, please contact NCHS, Office of
Public Affairs (301) 458-4800, or via e-mail at paoquery@nch10.em.cdc.gov.
No.
53. Births to Unmarried Mothers: United States, 1980-92. 55 pp.
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