FamilyFacts.org: Over 60 Percent of Unwed Births Occur to 20-Somethings

Sarah Torre / March 08, 2011

The scandal and heartache of teen pregnancy has been exploited by producers of popular prime-time TV, who have made stories of 16-year-olds stumbling through accelerated adolescence into marketable drama. Likewise, news media have scrutinized the teen birth phenomenon for some time.

The truly shocking and underreported story, however, is that of unmarried 20-something parents. While 21 percent of children born outside of marriage are to teen mothers, more than 60 percent of unwed births occur to women in their 20s. It is not the young girls studying for the SAT or fretting over their prom prospects that make up the majority of women bearing the 40 percent of children born outside marriage. It is women in their 20s and 30s, demonstrating the impact of increasing cohabitation and the collapse of marriage, who are putting cradles before wedding bands.

While the teen pregnancy rate is important and should be addressed, the increase in unwed childbearing among young women in their 20s may signal serious social and economic problems for future generations. With (more…)