Definition

Marital status was determined by response to the following questions on the birth certificate: *For years 1970-1978 - Legitimate? *For years 1979-1988 - Is mother married? *For years after 1988 - Mother married? (At birth, conception, or any time between)

Numerator

Number of live births to unmarried mothers

Denominator

Total number of live births with known marital status

Why Is This Important?

Nonmarital births are at higher risk of having adverse birth outcomes such as low birthweight, preterm birth, and infant mortality than are children born to married women.[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr48/nvs48_16.pdf ^1^] Children born to single mothers typically have more limited social and financial resources.[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/wedlock.pdf ^2^]

How Are We Doing?

The proportion of births to unmarried New Jersey mothers had been steadily increasing for several decades but peaked around 2012 and has been generally declining since then. The rates among Blacks and Hispanics are more than triple the rate among Whites, and the White rate is nearly 4 times the rate among Asians. Among those aged 25-44, the proportion of births to unmarried women in 2020 was double the rate in 1990. The share of births to unmarried mothers ranges from 15.3% in Morris to 62.8% in Cumberland County.

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

Since 1985, the proportion of births to unmarried women among New Jersey residents has been below that of the nation as a whole. Currently, the rate is 20% lower in New Jersey than in the U.S. as a whole.

Data Notes

The proportion of NJ resident birth records with unknown marital status was less than 1% prior to 1996. Unknown marital status is included in the denominator for 1970-1995, but is excluded beginning with 1996.[[br]]California ceased reporting marital status in 2017, so unknown marital status is excluded from the US data beginning with 2017.

Data Source

Birth Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health

Data Notes

Data for White, Black, and Asian do not include Hispanics. Hispanic ethnicity includes persons of any race.[[br]] For births in 1990-2009 with race and ethnicity reported, more than 99.7% also had marital status reported. Beginning in 2010, marital status was no longer reported for out of state births, resulting in up to 7% of records having missing marital status for some racial/ethnic groups. Records with unknown marital status were removed from the denominator in all rates shown here.

Data Source

Birth Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health

Data Notes

Data for White, Black, and Asian do not include Hispanics. Hispanic ethnicity includes persons of any race.

Data Source

Birth Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health

Data Source

Birth Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health

Data Notes

Hudson and Warren Counties each have a large proportion (> 15%) of records missing mother's marital status, so records with unknown status were removed from the denominator for all counties, NJ, and the US. Interpret with caution.

Data Source

Birth Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health

References and Community Resources

1. Ventura SJ, Bachrach CA, [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr48/nvs48_16.pdf Nonmarital childbearing in the United States, 1940-99]. National vital statistics reports; vol 48 no 16. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2000. 2. McLanahan S. The consequences of nonmarital childbearing for women, children, and society. In: National Center for Health Statistics. [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/wedlock.pdf Report to Congress on Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing]. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 1995. [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/unmarried-childbearing.htm Unmarried Childbearing FastStats]. National Center for Health Statistics Driscoll AK, Hamilton BE, Curtin SC, Chong Y, Lu L, et al. [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data-visualization/births-to-unmarried-women/ Births and Birth Rates to Unmarried Women in the United States, Selected Years 1940-2015]. National Center for Health Statistics. 2017. Martinez GM. [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db204.htm Three Decades of Nonmarital First Births Among Fathers Aged 15-44 in the United States]. NCHS Data Brief No. 204, June 2005. Curtin SC, Ventura SJ, Martinez GM. [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db162.htm Recent Declines in Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States]. NCHS Data Brief No. 162, August 2014. Ventura SJ. [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db18.htm Changing Patterns of Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States]. NCHS Data Brief No. 18, May 2009.