More Women Having Children Outside Of Wedlock

May 14, 2009 by tanya
Filed under: News

More and more mothers are now raising their children out of wedlock in the United States. Many women in their 20s and 30s are now opting to have a family without getting married.

Over recent years, the number of single mothers has risen sharply, with nearly four out of ten births now being unmarried women.

Researchers from the National Center for Health Statistics have analysed birth certificates nationally and yesterday released a report on their findings.

Contributing factors include: less social stigma, couples deciding to delay or not to get married, an increasing number of financially independent women, and women who are older and single deciding to go ahead and have a child on their own.

Professor Rosanna Hertz at Wellesley College said “This is becoming increasingly the norm. The old adage that ‘first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage’ just no longer holds true.”

“Women can have children on their own, and it’s not going to destroy your employment, and it’s not going to mean that you’ll be made a pariah by the community,”

“It’s much more socially acceptable.”

Around 1.7 million babies in 2007 were born to an unmarried women, more than double the number in 1980.

Although the rates increased for all races, the number of unmarried women giving birth was highest for Hispanics and blacks.

The numbers of babies being born to unmarried women is high in parts of Europe, where many couples decide to co-habit instead of getting married.

Percentage of babies born to unmarried mothers:

Iceland (66%), Sweden (55%), France (50%), and the UK (44%).