Out-of-wedlock births rise sharply, study says
The number of babies being born out of wedlock has increased sharply in the United States, driven primarily by significant jumps in women in their 20s and 30s who have children without getting married, according to a federal report released Wednesday.
More than 1.7 million babies were born to unmarried women in 2007, a 26% rise from 2002 and more than double the number in 1980, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The increase reflected a 21% jump in the rates of unmarried women giving birth, which rose from 43.7 per 1,000 women in 2002 to 52.9 per 1,000 women.
That means that unmarried women accounted for 39.7% of all U.S. births in 2007 - nearly four of every 10 newborns - up from 34% in 2002 and more than double the percentage (18%) in 1980.
In Wisconsin, the number of babies born to unwed mothers also has been rising. In 2007, 26,020 babies were born to unmarried mothers, accounting for 36% of all births in the state, up from 28% in 1997 and 13.8% in 1980.
According to City of Milwaukee statistics, babies born to unwed mothers accounted for 65.2% of births in the city in 2007, an increase from 59.6% in 1997.
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