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Amara Bachu
301-457-2449
First Births Conceived Out of Wedlock
Nearly Triple Since 1930s, Census Bureau Says
The proportion of first births conceived out of wedlock to women ages 15
to 29 nearly tripled over the past six decades, from 18 percent between
1930-1934 to 53 percent between 1990-1994, according to a report released
today on the Internet by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.
"Growth in the proportion of first births born premaritally grew
five-fold," said Census Bureau analyst Amara Bachu, "from 8 percent during
the early 1930s to 41 percent in the early 1990s."
The report, Trends in Premarital Childbearing: 1930 to 1994, traces the
marital status of women at the time of their first birth from 1930 to
1994. It looks at three categories of first births: premaritally conceived
and born out of wedlock; premaritally conceived but born within seven
months after the mother's first marriage; and postmaritally conceived and
born after the mother's first marriage.
Other findings from the report include:
- The proportion of White women under age 30 who had either a
premaritally born or premaritally conceived first birth tripled, from
15 percent in the early 1930s to 45 percent in the early 1990s. For
African American women, it doubled, from 43 percent to 86 percent.
- The proportion of first births to women 15-19 years old that either
were premaritally born or premaritally conceived increased from
28 percent in the early 1930s to 89 percent in the early 1990s.
- In 1990-1994, about 85 percent of all first births to White women
ages 15 to 19 were either premaritally born or premaritally
conceived, compared with 25 percent for the 1930-1934 period. The
comparable figures for African American teenage women were
98 percent and 47 percent, respectively.
The data are from the June supplements to the 1980 and 1995 Current
Population Survey. Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling
and other sources of error.
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