A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that more women had their first child while living with an unmarried partner in the early 2020s compared to the early 1990s. The report, titled “Women’s Living Arrangements at First Birth,” examines how women’s living situations at the time of their first birth have changed over time and vary by education level, race, and ethnicity.
The findings indicate that fewer women had their first child while neither married nor cohabiting in 2020-2024 than in 1990-1994.
Educational attainment played a significant role in these trends. Among first-time mothers with at least a bachelor’s degree, the percentage who were married increased from 74.4% in 1990-1994 to 84.5% in 2020-2024. In contrast, only 4.4% of these mothers were neither married nor living with a partner during the most recent period, down from 14.4% three decades earlier.
For women without a bachelor’s degree, marriage rates at first birth declined from 58.6% to 40.6% between the two periods. Cohabitation among this group rose notably from 19.2% to 34.8%.
Racial and ethnic differences also emerged in the data. In the early 1990s, Asian women were most likely to be married at first birth (81.7%), followed by White (71.8%), Hispanic (61.2%), and Black (31.5%) mothers.
By the early 2020s, marriage rates for first-time Hispanic mothers dropped to 43.9%. The proportion of marital first births did not change significantly for Asian, White or Black mothers during this period.
Cohabitation increased among White and Hispanic women as well: for White mothers it rose from 14.5% to 20.2%, and for Hispanic mothers it grew from 20.4% to 34%.
Further details about these patterns can be found through resources such as the Current Population Survey June Fertility Supplement File and America Counts.
