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,” analyzes how these arrangements have changed over time and vary by education, 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.
Looking at educational attainment, the share of first-time mothers with at least a bachelor’s degree who were married rose from 74.4% in the early 1990s to 84.5% in the early 2020s. In contrast, only 4.4% of first-time mothers with a bachelor’s degree were neither married nor living with a partner in recent years, down from 14.4%. Among women without a bachelor’s degree, those married at their first birth declined from 58.6% to 40.6%, while cohabitation increased from 19.2% to 34.8%.
Racial and ethnic differences were also noted. In the early 1990s, Asian women were most likely to be married at their 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%. There was no significant change for Asian, White, or Black mothers regarding marital status at first birth during this period.
Cohabitation among White mothers increased from 14.5% to 20.2%, and among Hispanic mothers from 20.4% to 34%, between the two periods studied.
Further details are available through data sources such as the Current Population Survey June Fertility Supplement File and America Counts.
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