A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that more women had their first child while living with an unmarried partner in the early 2020s compared to the early 1990s. The report, titled “Women’s Living Arrangements at First Birth,” examines how women’s marital and cohabitation status at first birth has changed over time, and breaks down differences by education level, race, and ethnicity.
According to the report, fewer women had their first child while neither married nor living with a partner in 2020-2024 than in 1990-1994.
The data highlights significant changes based on educational attainment. Among first-time mothers with at least a bachelor’s degree, the percentage who were married increased from 74.4% in 1990-1994 to 84.5% in 2020-2024. In contrast, only 4.4% of these mothers were neither married nor living with a partner in 2020-2024, down from 14.4% three decades earlier.
For women with less than a bachelor’s degree, the share who were married at first birth declined from 58.6% to 40.6% over the same period. Cohabitation among this group rose from 19.2% to 34.8%.
Racial and ethnic trends also shifted during this period. In the early 1990s, Asian women were most likely to be married at first birth (81.7%), followed by White (71.8%), Hispanic (61.2%), and Black (31.5%) mothers. By the early 2020s, the proportion of Hispanic mothers who were married at first birth dropped to 43.9%. The rates for Asian, White, or Black mothers did not change significantly.
Cohabitation rates increased among White and Hispanic first-time mothers as well: for White mothers from 14.5% to 20.2%, and for Hispanic mothers from 20.4% to 34%.
More details about these trends can be found through resources such as the Current Population Survey June Fertility Supplement File and America Counts.
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