A recent 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 these living arrangements—married, cohabiting, or neither—varied by education level and race or ethnicity over time.
The data indicates a decline in the percentage of women having their first child while neither married nor living with a partner in 2020-2024 compared to 1990-1994.
Educational attainment played a significant role in these trends. Among first-time mothers with at least a bachelor’s degree, those who were married at the time of their first birth increased from 74.4% in 1990-1994 to 84.5% in 2020-2024. The share of such mothers who were neither married nor cohabiting dropped from 14.4% to 4.4% over the same period.
For women without a bachelor’s degree, marriage rates at first birth declined from 58.6% to 40.6%. Cohabitation among this group rose from 19.2% to 34.8%.
Racial and ethnic differences were also noted in the findings. In the early 1990s, Asian women were most likely to be married at their first birth (81.7%), followed by White (71.8%), Hispanic (61.2%), and Black (31.5%) mothers.
By the early 2020s, marriage rates for first-time Hispanic mothers decreased to 43.9%. For Asian, White, and Black mothers, there was no statistical change in marital status at first birth during this period.
Cohabitation increased among both White and Hispanic mothers: for White mothers it went from 14.5% to 20.2%, and for Hispanic mothers it rose from 20.4% to 34%.
Further details on these trends can be found through resources such as the Current Population Survey June Fertility Supplement File and America Counts.
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