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 Women’s Living Arrangements at First Birth report details how these patterns 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.
Educational differences were notable. The share of first-time mothers with at least a bachelor’s degree who were married increased from 74.4% in 1990-1994 to 84.5% in 2020-2024. In contrast, only 4.4% of first-time mothers with a bachelor’s degree were neither married nor living with a partner in 2020-2024, down from 14.4% three decades earlier.
For women without a bachelor’s degree, the percentage who were married at their first birth dropped from 58.6% to 40.6%. At the same time, cohabitation at first birth among this group rose 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 their first birth (81.7%), followed by White (71.8%), Hispanic (61.2%), and Black (31.5%) mothers.
By the early 2020s, the percentage of Hispanic first-time mothers who were married decreased to 43.9%. There was no significant statistical change for Asian, White, or Black mothers regarding marital status at first birth during this period.
Cohabitation rates 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 information on these trends can be found through resources such as the Current Population Survey June Fertility Supplement File and America Counts.
