|
Births to unmarried US women set record
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-29 10:16
WASHINGTON - Nearly 1.5 million babies, a record, were born to unmarried
women in the United States last year, the government reported Friday. And it
isn't just teenagers any more.
"People have the impression that teens
and unmarried mothers are synonymous," said Stephanie Ventura of the National
Center for Health Statistics.
But last year teens accounted for just 24 percent of unwed births, down from
50 percent in 1970, she commented.
The increases in unmarried births have been among women in their 20s, she
said, particularly those 25 to 29.
Many of the women in that age group are living with partners but still count
as unmarried mothers if they haven't formally married, Ventura noted.
The 20s are the prime childbearing years, regardless of whether the mother is
married or not, she said.
Among teens, more than 80 percent of mothers were unmarried.
There were 1,470,152 babies born to single women in 2004, 35.7 percent of all
births in the country, NCHS said. That was up from 1,415,995 a year earlier.
Births to older women continued to increase, Brady Hamilton of NCHS pointed
out, reflecting choices these women are making in terms of careers and having
families.
The birth rate for women aged 35 to 39 increased 4 percent from 2003 to 2004.
It was up 3 percent for women aged 40 to 44 and 9 percent for those 45 to 49.
|
