The U.S. Census Bureau has released a new report indicating a decline in the percentage of women giving birth while unmarried over the past decade. The report, titled “Social and Economic Characteristics of Currently Unmarried Women With a Recent Birth: 2023,” is based on data from the 2023 American Community Survey.
According to the findings, the proportion of women with a recent birth who were unmarried fell by 4.8 percentage points between 2011 and 2023. In 2011, 35.7% (under 1.5 million) of women with a recent birth were unmarried, compared to 30.9% (1.2 million) in 2023.
In total, four million women aged 15 to 50 gave birth in the United States in the past year. Of those, about 1.2 million were unmarried at the time of their child’s birth, and roughly one-third—35.5%, or around 450,000—were living with an unmarried partner.
The report compares current figures to data from an earlier study using estimates from the American Community Survey in 2011.
Between 2011 and 2023, every state and the District of Columbia either saw a decrease or no statistically significant change in the share of births to unmarried women.
Among teenagers ages 15 to 19 who gave birth in the last year, most—90.1%—were unmarried in 2023. However, this group has shrunk significantly over time; there were more than twice as many unmarried teens with a recent birth in 2011 (216,436) as there were in 2023 (82,530).
Education level continues to be linked with marital status at childbirth. In both years examined:
– In 2023, nearly half (48.9%) of women without a high school diploma and nearly half (47.9%) of high school graduates or GED holders who had recently given birth were unmarried.
– In comparison, these percentages stood at 57% for those without a high school education and just under half (49%) for high school graduates or GED holders in 2011.
– The share among women without a high school diploma declined over time; however, for high school graduates or GED holders it did not change significantly.
Additionally, more mothers with recent births held bachelor’s degrees in 2023 than in previous years: up from 8.8% in 2011 to 11.4% last year.
Geographic differences remain apparent:
– States including Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia reported higher-than-average percentages of births to unmarried women.
– Conversely, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Vermont Washington and Wisconsin had lower rates than the national average.
Further details on fertility statistics are available through the Census Bureau’s Fertility webpage: https://www.census.gov/topics/health/fertility.html
###
