About four in 10 American babies were born to unmarried women in 2013, down one percent from the previous year. The non-marital birth rate has been declining for five straight years and is 14 percent lower than the all-time peak in 2007–2008.
The birth rate last year for unmarried women aged 15–44 was 44.8 per 1,000 contrasted to 45.3 in 2012,
the Centers for Disease Control reported.
Until the end of the Second World War in 1945 out of wedlock births were in the single digits,
according to CDC data.
The out-of-wedlock rate in 2013 among Hispanic women was 53.2 percent. For African American women the rate was 71.4 percent.
White women gave birth out of marriage at a rate of 29.3 percent in 2013, the CDC said.
While fewer teens, African Americans, and Latino women are giving birth outside of marriage, the trend is not carrying over to women over 35. The rate for women aged 35–39 was 31 per 1,000 in 2012 compared with 29 per 1,000 in 2007. For over 40 women the non-marital birth rate went up to 9 per 1,000 in 2012 from 7 per 1,000 2007.
Overall though, the general fertility rate for all U.S. women in 2013 continued a downward trend: 62.9 births per 1,000 women aged 15–44. For women aged 35–39, however, the rate was 49.6 births per 1,000 which is up 3 percent from 2012, according to the CDC.
Some 61,740 babies were born as a result of IVF fertility procedures in 2012, many to older women who are not married,
according to the Chicago Tribune.
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