A recent 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 marital and cohabitation status at first birth has changed over time, with a focus on differences by education level and race or ethnicity.
The findings indicate that fewer women had their first child while neither married nor living with a partner 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. The share of these mothers who were neither married nor cohabiting dropped from 14.4% to 4.4% over the same period. For women without a bachelor’s degree, marriage at first birth declined from 58.6% to 40.6%, while cohabitation rose from 19.2% to 34.8%.
Racial and ethnic differences were also observed. 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 mothers married at first birth fell to 43.9%. There was no significant change for Asian, White, or Black mothers during this period.
Cohabitation rates increased among both White and Hispanic mothers having their first child: for White mothers, it rose from 14.5% to 20.2%, and for Hispanic mothers, from 20.4% to 34%.
Further details can be found through resources such as the Current Population Survey June Fertility Supplement File and America Counts.
