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 study, titled “Women’s Living Arrangements at First Birth,” examines how women’s living situations at the time of their first birth have changed over three decades, focusing on marital status, cohabitation, and differences by education level and race or ethnicity.
The findings indicate a shift in family formation patterns. In the early 2020s, fewer women had their first child while neither married nor living with a partner than in the early 1990s.
Educational attainment was found to play a significant role. The percentage of first-time mothers with at least a bachelor’s degree who were married increased from 74.4% in 1990-1994 to 84.5% in 2020-2024. For this group, only 4.4% were neither married nor cohabiting at first birth during 2020-2024, down from 14.4% three decades earlier.
For women without a bachelor’s degree, there was a decline in marriage rates at first birth—from 58.6% in the early 1990s to 40.6% in the early 2020s—while cohabitation rates rose from 19.2% to 34.8%.
The report also details differences by race and ethnicity. 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 their first birth fell to 43.9%. Marital rates for Asian, White, or Black mothers did not change significantly during this period.
Cohabitation among White first-time mothers rose from 14.5% to 20.2%, and among Hispanic mothers from 20.4% to 34%, between these periods.
The full report uses data from sources such as the Current Population Survey June Fertility Supplement File and America Counts for further information about these trends.
For additional details on women’s living arrangements at first birth and related demographic data, refer to resources provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
