MaternalMarital
marital status, unmarried, illegitimate, unwed
MaternalMarital.Trend
Maternal Marital Status
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)
Number of live births to unmarried mothers
Total number of live births with known marital status
08/15/2023
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^]
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.
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.
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.
CHS
mbaron
A
08/15/2023
MLB
2008-09 added 5/7/13
2010-11 added 8/5/14
11/6/17 API updated to OMB15, nativity to 51/5/foreign
102
x
08/15/2023
Status changed by: mbaron
08/15/2023
HealthStatus
Health Status Outcomes
EPHTInfMort
Infant Mortality Rate
EPHTInfMort.RETrend
LBW
Low Birth Weight
LBW.Year
Preterm
Preterm Births
Preterm.RaceEth
MaternalMarital.Trend
Births to Unmarried Mothers,
New Jersey and the U.S.,
1970-2021
Percentage of Live Births
MaternalMarital.RaceEth
Births to Unmarried Mothers
by Year and Mother's Race/Ethnicity, New Jersey,
1990-2021
Percentage of Live Births
MaternalMarital.RE
Births to Unmarried Mothers
by Mother's Race/Ethnicity, New Jersey,
2021
Percentage of Live Births
MaternalMarital.Age
Births to Unmarried Mothers
by Year and Age Group, New Jersey,
1990-2021
Percentage of Live Births
MaternalMarital.County
Births to Unmarried Mothers
by County of Residence, New Jersey,
2021
Percentage of Live Births