Originally published November 1 2005
New figures show that births to unmarried women are increasing in the U.S.
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The U.S. government has released figures that indicate childbirth among unmarried women is on the rise, as 1.5 million babies were born to unwed mothers, representing nearly 36 percent of all births in the U.S. last year.
Babies born to unmarried women in the US has touched a new high, according to official data, and experts worried that the trend was likely to create more complex families in the country.
The nearly 1.5 million unwed births amounted to about 36 percent of all births in the country.
And those mothers were more likely to be in their 20s rather than teenagers, the online edition of USA Today reported, quoting figures from the data released on Friday.
Births last year to both married and unwed mothers totalled more than four million, up from 2003.
The government said increases in unmarried births have been among women in their 20s, particularly those between 25 to 29 years.
By age group, almost 55 percent of the births to women between 20 to 24 years were to unmarried ones.
For those between 25-29 years, almost 28 percent of the births were to single women, the data figures showed.
Teenagers, who accounted for 50 percent of unwed births in 1970, accounted for 24 percent of such births in 2004.
Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, expressed happiness about the decline in teenage mothers but worried about the trends for those aged 20 years and above.
The right direction would be non-marital child bearing in all groups to be going down," she said.
Sara S. McLanahan, a sociology professor at Princeton University and director of the Center for Research on Child Well-Being, said most often unwed mothers were disadvantaged with a high school degree or less education.
"These are relatively unstable relationships, even among older mothers," she said.
"It's really unfair to children," said David Poponoe, a sociology professor at Rutgers University who has studied the effects of marriage and cohabitation on children.
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