http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/28/D8DH6FRO3.html
Births to Unmarried U.S. Women Set Record
Oct 28 2:02 PM US/Eastern
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By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON

Nearly 1.5 million babies, a record,
were born to unmarried women in the
United States last year,

the government reported Friday.

And it isn't just teenagers any more.

"People have the impression that teens
and unmarried mothers are synonymous,"

said Stephanie Ventura of the
National Center for Health
Statistics.

But last year teens accounted for
just 24 percent of unwed births,
down from 50 percent in 1970,
she commented.

The increases in unmarried births
have been among women in their 20s,
she said, particularly those 25 to 29.

Many of the women in that age group
are living with partners but still
count as unmarried mothers if they
haven't formally married, Ventura noted.

The 20s are the prime childbearing years,
regardless of whether the mother is married
or not, she said.

Among teens,
more than 80 percent of
mothers were unmarried.

There were 1,470,152 babies
born to single women in 2004,

35.7 percent of all
births in the country, NCHS said.

That was up from 1,415,995 a year earlier.

Births to older women continued to increase,
Brady Hamilton of NCHS pointed out,
reflecting choices these women are
making in terms of careers and having
families.

The birth rate for women aged 35 to 39
increased 4 percent from 2003 to 2004.

It was up 3 percent for women aged
40 to 44 and 9 percent for those
45 to 49.

Other findings of the report included:

_There was a total of 4,115,590 births
in the country in 2004, up from 4,089,950
in 2003.

Births to whites declined by nearly
18,000 while Hispanics were up 32,000,
there was an increase of more than 8,000
in births to Asians and a rise of just
72 births among black women.

_The total birth rate
was 14.0 per 1,000 women,
down from 14.1 in 2003.

_The birth rate for women
aged 15 to 19 was 41.2 per 1,000,
down from 41.6 in 2003 and a record low.

The teen birth rate was 61.8 in
1991 and has been declining since.

___

On the Net:

National Center for Health Statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs