Percentage of Children Born to Single Parents Increases in Last 10 Years: CDC

By Staff Reporter - 13 Aug '14 08:23AM

The number of children born to unmarried couples increased significantly in the last decade, finds a survey.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics recently released its survey findings on trends in non-marital births in country. The agency experts noticed an upshot in the birth rates among single mothers and unwed couples between 2002 and 2010. From 2006 to 2010 the overall birth rate rose to 58 percent compared to 41 percent in 2002, reports NBC News.

The report also observed that a majority of these births were planned by couples and those who chose to remain unmarried. The experts say non-marital births have declined in recent times with 1,605,643 births in 2013, which is nearly seven percent lesser than the 1,726,566 children born to single mothers. This trend is related to increased use of contraceptives and lesser incidence of teen-pregnancy, believe the researchers.

More number of White American women signed to have children out of wed-lock compared to Hispanics and African-American women. Majority of women in their twenties were more likely to stay single and still have a family.

Older women and those in their 30's also seem to be open about having children outside marriage. The statistical data suggests the number of unmarried women of this age group having children without marrying exceeds the percentage of 18 to 19-year-olds with babies.

"We're not sure exactly why this is happening to women in their 20s. I doubt it's because of a decline in sexual activity. It probably suggests better contraception," said Andrew Cherlin, a sociologist and researcher at Johns Hopkins University, reports the Daily Beast.

The research holds not all unwed mothers are single parents and in fact a notable number of them are in live-in relationships. Nearly three in every five non-marital births are in those who are a part of a co-inhabiting family.

"It may be seen as 'better' than living alone, but these relationships are quite unstable, and we know that upwards of 40 percent of these cohabiting relationships are formed after the woman gets pregnant. Some people talk about shotgun cohabitation, only there's nobody holding the shotgun anymore," adds Cherlin.