Census Bureau Facts for Features
A product of the U.S. Census Bureau's Public Information Office CB99-FF.07 April 29, 1999 Mother's Day 1999: May 9 How Many Children Do Mothers Have? - Among the 35 million mothers in the United States ages 15 to 44 in 1995, 10.8 million had one child, 13.9 million had two, 6.9 million had three and 3.4 million had four or more(1). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-192.html - Women ages 40 to 44 in 1995 had an average of two children each. Hispanic women in this age group had 2.6 children each while African- American women had 2.1 and White women 1.9. The figures for all women ages 40 to 44 and African-American and White women in this age group are not significantly different from one another. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-192.html - As of 1995, there were 1,545 births to every 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 in Idaho -- among the highest rates in the nation. Women in Massachusetts were among those with the lowest rates (959 children ever born per 1,000 women of childbearing ages). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-192.html Where Births Take Place - We tend to assume that when a mother gives birth, she does it in a hospital. While this is usually the case, it is not always true. In 1995, there were 27,000 births nationwide attended by physicians, midwives or others which did not occur in hospitals, down from 39,000 ten years earlier. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-226.html Working Moms - As of 1995, the majority (55 percent) of women ages 15 to 44 who had given birth in the previous year were in the labor force, up from 31 percent in 1976. The percentage of returnees to the labor force was even higher (77 percent) if the woman was 30 to 44 and the birth was her first. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-192.html - There were 10 million preschoolers nationwide in 1994 whose mothers were employed. About 43 percent of these children received care from relatives other than their mothers (fathers, grandparents, siblings, aunts or uncles) during most of the mothers' working hours. Another 29 percent went to a day-care center or nursery school, while 6 percent received care from their mothers at their workplaces or while they worked at home. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-08.html Moms Raising Children Without a Husband - In 1995, about 1 in 5 never-married women ages 15 to 44 were mothers. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-192.html - In Mississippi, 45 percent of births in 1996 were to unmarried women -- the highest rate of any state in the nation. Utah, with 16 percent, had the lowest rate. The national average was 32 percent. Worldwide (1995 data), among selected nations, the percentage ranged from 1 percent in Japan to 53 percent in Sweden. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-226.html - The number of single mothers in the United States -- 9.8 million in 1998 -- has remained constant since 1995 after nearly tripling over the previous quarter century. Last year, single mothers comprised about five-sixths of all single parents. Their families constituted 26 percent of all parent-child situations, up from 12 percent in 1970. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-228.html - Nearly 1 in 5 single mothers was raising three or more of their own children in 1998. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-228.html - Most single mothers (7.7 million or 78 percent) maintained their own household in 1998. The remainder lived in the home of either a relative or a nonrelative. The vast majority of single mothers who maintained their own household (69 percent) did not have another adult in the home to help them out. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-228.html - In 1998, 42 percent of single mothers had never married. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-228.html Teen Moms - It's not exactly the norm for women to become mothers before they celebrate their 20th birthday, but it's not uncommon either. As of 1995, more than 800,000 women ages 15 to 19 -- or about 1 in 10 women in this age range were -- mothers. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-192.html - In 1996, 13 percent of all the births nationwide were to teens. Mississippi, at 21 percent, had the highest rate among states, while Massachusetts and New Hampshire, each at 7 percent, had the lowest. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-226.html The preceding facts come from the Current Population Survey, the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Statistical Abstract of the United States. The data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Previous 1999 Census Bureau Facts for Features: African American History Month (February), Valentine's Day (February 14), Women's History Month (March), Countdown to Census 2000 (April 1), Secretaries' Day (April 21) and Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month (May). Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office (tel: 301-457-3030; fax: 301-457-3670; e-mail: pio@census.gov). (1)The Census Bureau does not collect similar data on mothers who are 45 or over.
