Posted on 11/21/2006 1:23:56 PM PST by BenLurkin
ATLANTA - Out-of-wedlock births in the United States have climbed to an all-time high, accounting for nearly four in 10 babies born last year, government health officials said Tuesday.
While out-of-wedlock births have long been associated with teen mothers, the teen birth rate actually dropped last year to the lowest level on record. Instead, births among unwed mothers rose most dramatically among women in their 20s.
The overall rise reflects the burgeoning number of people who are putting off marriage or living together without getting married.
The increase in births to unwed mothers was seen in all racial groups, but rose most sharply among Hispanics. It was up among all age groups except youngsters ages 10 to 17.
"A lot of people think of teenagers and unmarried mothers synonymously, but they are not driving this," said Stephanie Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics, a co-author of the report.
The government also reported that the rate of births by Caesarean delivery continued to climb in 2005 to a record high, despite efforts by public health authorities to bring down the number.
Many experts believe a large number of C-sections are medically unnecessary and done only for the convenience of the mother or her doctor.
The government report includes information from 99 percent of U.S. birth certificates filed last year. The information for 2005 is considered preliminary, but officials said it is not expected to change much.
About 4.1 million babies were born in the United States last year, up slightly from 2004. More than 1.5 million of those were to unmarried women; that is about 37 percent of the total. In 2004, about 36 percent of births were out of wedlock.
Out-of-wedlock births have been rising since the late 1990s.
But just because a mother is not married does not mean the father isn't around, Ventura noted. She noted 2002 statistics that showed that about 20 percent of all new mothers under 20 were unmarried but living with the father at the time of the birth. That same was true of about 13 percent of all new mothers ages 20 to 24.
According to census figures, the median age at first marriage was 27 for men and 25 for women last year, up from 23 and 20 in 1950. Meanwhile, the number of unmarried-couple households with children has been climbing, hitting more than 1.7 million last year, up from under 200,000 in 1970.
Other findings in the report:
The birth rate among teenagers declined 2 percent in 2005, continuing a trend from the early 1990s. The rate is now about 40 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19. That is the lowest level in the 65 years for which a consistent series of rates is available.
The U.S. teen birth rate is still the highest among industrialized countries.
Births to women in their early 20s rose slightly, to 102 births per 1,000 women ages 20 to 24. Births to women in their late 20s — the most productive group in terms of childbirth — was about that same from the previous year, at about 116 per 1,000 women ages 25 to 29.
The C-section rate rose to 30.2 percent of all births in 2005, an increase of 1 percentage point from the previous year. The rate has risen by nearly half since 1996.
"It is clear that the procedure is being overused," Tonya Jamois, president of the International Cesarean Awareness Network, said in a statement. ICAN is a California-based nonprofit organization focused on lowering C-section rates.
May be, but it doesn't explain why "Out-of-wedlock births have been rising since the late 1990s".
I don't think it is irrelevant.
Granted, some people will draw racist conclusions, but some cultures are less likely to marry than others. My thought is, those will also vote heavy democrat.
When you have no helpmate to help you rear your children, which is really a two person job, then you often turn to the government to help you with your family. It's the foothold in the door the libs have.
I think that is a relevant point.
Egad, I love it.
Poor Cole seemed like a lost soul with bad priorities, but I do love his music.
Question: "May be, but it doesn't explain why "Out-of-wedlock births have been rising since the late 1990s".
Answer: Poor, insecure and uncertain women are marrying Uncle Sam in preference to the actual father. The fathers surely approve this and society now has few if any sanctions against OW pregnancies.
Further, welfare initially was only for single women and if there was an able bodied man in the house they could not receive it. I believe this is changing in some states.
Yes, that would be racist.
Also pointless and irrelevant.
...you are kidding aren't you? "pointless and irrelevant"?
90% are black/african americans/negroes. The welfare state and the nanny state are both to blame for this. Instituted by Lyndon Johnson and known as the "Great Society". Enacted to eventually guarantee votes to dems for years to come. Which it has and will continue. This is why blacks always vote dem. They are dependant on the government. They have no responsibilities...don't need to.
Okay. So they're black.
So what?
They certainly bear a large portion of the blame.
There is no requirement in these laws, however that the recipients be of any particular racial group -- socialism is pernicious to the entire society.
NOT to me.....any grandchild or niece/nephew who does this will see NOTHING in the way of support. We'll be nice, but we will NOT be supportive until they are married.
Why? Because there is PROOF that children born to married parents end up having BETTER chances in life....and usually....better lives.....which begets BETTER lives for the next generation.....but, hey, what do I know.....I'm only 55.
I get the impression that the statistics in the article are based upon the mother's marital status at the time the baby is born. I don't think it specifically says, but I read through it pretty quickly.
Accidental pregnancies often ended with marriage in the 60's and 70's, and they wouldn't be counted as out of wedlock births. Maybe part of the difference is because those that become accidentally pregnant, no longer feel it is necessary to get married. I know that growing up with divorced parents can make one very reluctant to get married. Half of 20 something aged women grew up with divorced parents. Speaking from personal experience, this can make you very cynical about the whole marriage idea.
When you spend your life noticing that blacks and now Hispanics seem responsible for most of the social nastiness around you, at the same time they are accorded every conceivable government and social benefit (and that at the expense of generally better-behaved whites), it's nice to see some stats that show what you know to be true anyway. That may be a generational thing, as now more whites adopt the trash culture embraced by blacks ever since the Great Society destroyed their family base. Tony Brown warned in his Black Lies, White Lies that whites should never be content to just watch blacks rot on the vine, because every social malady in black culture eventually migrates into white culture. He seems to be right on in that assessment.
The National Center for Health Statistics is not hiding anything -- you just have to go and find the report, as the press often will not give the accurate story.
BTW, the "white" illegitimacy rate is generally highest in the south and west, and lowest in the Northeast and Upper Midwest -- probably a combination of income effect and easier attitudes toward abortion to prevent a "troublesome" pregnancy.
At least they weren't aborted--but illegitimate births should decrease.
At least they weren't aborted--but illegitimate births should decrease.
I disagree that blacks and Hispanics are responsible for"most of the social nastiness"out there.
I spent a number of years teaching in San Francisco schools as a roving sub.There were plenty of wild and defiant white kids and,as much as it will shock some,ASIAN kids were not all the angels they were stereotyped to be.
Thats NOT to say there were not plenty of black and Latino problem kids.They could be off the hook at times.However,the main subject of this thread was the high percentage of"illegitmate"kids born in the US.Yes,blacks and Latinos DO have higher rates but how much of THAT is because white girls tend to use abortion more than these other groups.
The bottom line is that I have seen WAY too many sexually loose white girls to believe they are any less sluttish than black or Hispanic girls.
Maybe that is damning with faint praise!
Maybe thats true about marriage providing a more stable envirnment for kids but when I was growing up all the relationships adults had in my view were really dysfunctional and not based on love but on power and status.
I'm very glad I had a father in the home but its no coincidence that myself and all my siblings never got married.
Those bad memories can haunt you well into adulthood.And I grew up white and middle class.Just multiply that shouting,arguing and conflict about ten times and you will not question why these young black kids are afraid to get married.They have no models to build on in the first place and you can blame that on Lyndon Johnson,rap music or Bill Clinton but it doesn't change the facts.
i asked someone a long time a ago why poorer people have so many babies. i was told it was because sex is one of the only positive experiences that doesn't cost a thing. makes sense to me.
Good point!
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