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 these living arrangements have changed over time and differ 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.
Education appears to play 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 recent period, down from 14.4% three decades earlier.
For women without a bachelor’s degree, the percentage who were married at their first birth declined from 58.6% to 40.6%. At the same time, cohabitation rates for this group rose from 19.2% to 34.8%.
The report also highlights differences by race and ethnicity. 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, the share of Hispanic first-time mothers who were married dropped to 43.9%. The proportion of marital first births did not change significantly for Asian, White or Black mothers during this period.
Cohabitation rates also increased among some groups: for White first-time mothers it went up from 14.5% to 20.2%, and for Hispanic mothers it rose from 20.4% to 34%.
For additional details on women’s living arrangements at their first birth, refer to data from the Current Population Survey’s June 2024 Fertility Supplement File and America Counts.
