The New Demography of American Motherhood

The report finds that the demography of motherhood in the United States has shifted dramatically in the past two decades based on characteristics of women who gave birth in 2008 and those who gave birth in 1990.

The findings, reported by Pew Research Center, reveal that today’s mothers are older and better educated than their counterparts were two decades ago. Ten percent of all births were to teen moms in 2008, compared with 14 percent to women age 35 and older. In 2006, 54 percent of women reported at least some college education, compared to 41 percent in 1990. This trend applies to all ethnicities across the United States. Additionally, the number of children born to single women has sharply increased. In 2008, 41 percent of births in the United States were to single women, up from 28 percent in 1990.

A separate section of the report explores the reasons why people say they become parents. Data are from the National Center for Health Statistics, the Census Bureau and the results of a nationwide Pew Research Center survey.

Read the report.