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Changing Patterns of Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States

NCHS Data Brief
Number 18, May 2009

Changing Patterns of Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States

Key findings
Data from the Natality Data Sets, National Vital Statistics System (NVSS)

  • Childbearing by unmarried women has resumed a steep climb since 2002.
  • Births to unmarried women totaled 1,714,643 in 2007, 26% more than in 2002. Nearly 4 in 10 U.S. births were to unmarried women in 2007.
  • Birth rates have risen considerably for unmarried women in their twenties and over, while declining or changing little for unmarried teenagers.
  • Nonmarital birth rates are highest for Hispanic women followed by black women. Rates for non-Hispanic white and Asian or Pacific Islander women are much lower.
  • Most births to teenagers (86% in 2007) are nonmarital, but 60% of births to women 20–24 and nearly one-third of births to women 25–29 were nonmarital in 2007.
  • Teenagers accounted for just 23% of nonmarital births in 2007, down steeply from 50% in 1970.

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