---
title: "Unmarried Mothers"
description: "A record four-in-ten births were to unmarried women in 2008."
date: "2010-05-26"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2010/05/26/unmarried-mothers/"
categories:
  - "Unmarried Adults"
---

# Unmarried Mothers

Today’s new mothers are increasingly older, better educated and more likely to be unmarried than were mothers of newborn children in the past. In 2008, a record 41% of births in the U.S. were to unmarried women. This includes a majority of births to women younger than age 25 (59% to unmarried mothers). In total, 1.7 million babies were born to unmarried mothers in 2008. By comparison, 2.5 million babies were born to married mothers (59% of all births). Roughly 20 years ago, only 28% of births were to unmarried women; births to unmarried mothers rose by 48% between 1990 and 2008.While the highest share of unmarried mothers is among black women (72%), the sharpest increase in unmarried births occurred among white (29%) and Hispanic mothers (53%). Most Americans say they know at least one woman who had a baby while she was not married, and one man who fathered a child while he was not married, according to a Pew Research survey. But while Americans have softened slightly in their disapproval of unmarried parenthood, most continue to say it is bad for society. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1586/changing-demographic-characteristics-american-mothers)