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

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

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.