New York, New Jersey Among States With Lower Than National Average Of Babies Born Out Of Marriage According To Recent US Census Report
New Data Show Fewer Women Gave Birth While Unmarried in the Past Decade
Editor’s note: As you can see below in the highlights, New York, New Jersey, and a number of other states that are not close to us geographically had even lower numbers of births to unwed mothers than the national average, which itself was 4.8 percentage points lower than it was in the previous decade (it was comparing data from 12 years ago precisely). Declining birth and fertility rates nationwide and worldwide have led to concern in nations that include the US that the next generations will not be replacing their parents’ and grandparents’ numbers, eventually leading to an overall decline among older populations and thus the overall population. In addition, there has been concern that people receiving state assistance such as TANF and SNAP are heavily penalized if they do get married, and this becomes even more relevant when there are children involved determining the family size and amount of benefits they will receive. In the case where two people legally marry, they receive a significant amount less in state and federal financial aid for their family, regardless of the realities of their financial struggle. Specifically, in New York, the rate of unwed mothers who gave birth was 27.6%, and in New Jersey it was 26.3%.
JAN. 28, 2026 — The percentage of women with a recent birth who were unmarried decreasedby 4.8 percentage points, from 35.7% (or under 1.5 million) in 2011 to 30.9% (or 1.2 million) in 2023, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report titled Social and Economic Characteristics of Currently Unmarried Women With a Recent Birth: 2023.
In 2023, four million women ages 15 to 50 gave birth in the last year. Of the 1.2 million women with a recent birth who were unmarried, 35.5% (or around 450,000) lived with an unmarried partner.
The report uses 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) data to explore social and economic characteristics of unmarried women with a recent birth and makes comparisons, when possible, to an earlier report that used 2011 ACS 1-year estimates.
Other highlights:
- From 2011 to 2023, the percentage of women with a recent birth who were unmarried either decreased or the difference was not statistically significant for every U.S. state and the District of Columbia.
- By age, 90.1% of women ages 15 to 19 with a birth in the last year were unmarried in 2023. However, the number of unmarried women ages 15 to 19 with a recent birth in 2011 (216,436) decreased by more than half in 2023 (82,530).
- In terms of educational attainment:
- In 2023, 48.9% of women with less than a high school education and 47.9% of high school graduates or GED holders with a recent birth were unmarried. These percentages are not significantly different from one another.
- In 2011, 57.0% of women with less than a high school education and 49.0% of women who were high school graduates or GED holders with a recent birth were unmarried.
- The percentage of women with less than a high school education with a birth in the last year who were unmarried decreased from 2011 to 2023, while the percentage of women who were high school graduates or GED holders with a birth in the last year who were unmarried was not significantly different in 2023 compared to 2011.
- The percent of those with a recent birth who held a bachelor’s degree was higher in 2023 than 2011 (11.4% compared to 8.8%).
- Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia had higher percentages of recent births to unmarried women than the national average.
- Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin had lower percentages of recent births to unmarried women than the national average.
For more information on fertility, visit the Census Bureau’s Fertility webpage.
Banner Image: Married couple. Image Credit – Nathan Dumlao
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