Key facts about moms in the U.S.
For Mother’s Day, here’s a snapshot of what motherhood looks like in the U.S. today, drawn from government data and Pew Research Center surveys.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Gretchen Livingston
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Among 41 countries, only U.S. lacks paid parental leave
Despite parents’ shifting responsibilities, the U.S. is the only one of 41 nations that does not mandate any paid leave for new parents.
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Is U.S. fertility at an all-time low? Two of three measures point to yes
A key U.S. fertility rate has reached a record low for the fourth year in a row. But is it really a record low? The short answer: It’s complicated.
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A third of U.S. adults say they have used fertility treatments or know someone who has
Forty years after the birth of the first baby conceived via in vitro fertilization, 33% of Americans say they or someone they know has undergone fertility treatment.
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U.S. women are postponing motherhood, but not as much as those in most other developed nations
American women are waiting longer to have children than in the past, but they are still starting their families sooner than women in many other developed nations.
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Family life is changing in different ways across urban, suburban and rural communities in the U.S.
Changes in marriage and childbearing have reshaped the American family. These shifts are playing out somewhat differently across urban, suburban and rural counties.
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More than a million Millennials are becoming moms each year
In all, more than 17 million Millennial women in the U.S. have become mothers. In 2016, Millennial women accounted for 82% of U.S. births.
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About one-third of U.S. children are living with an unmarried parent
The share of U.S. children living with an unmarried parent has more than doubled since 1968, jumping from 13% to 32% in 2017.
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The Changing Profile of Unmarried Parents
One-in-four parents living with a child in the United States today are unmarried, up from 7% in 1968. A growing share of unmarried parents are cohabiting partners.
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They’re Waiting Longer, but U.S. Women Today More Likely to Have Children Than a Decade Ago
The share of U.S. women at the end of their childbearing years who have ever given birth was higher in 2016 than it had been 10 years earlier.
