The demography of motherhood in the United States has shifted
strikingly in the past two decades. Compared with mothers of
newborns in 1990, today's mothers of newborns are older and
better educated. They are less likely to be white and less
likely to be married. In 1990, there were more births to
teenagers than to women ages 35 and older. By 2008, that had
reversed – 14% of births were to older women and 10% were to
teens. Births to women ages 35 and older grew 64% between 1990
and 2008, increasing in all major race and ethnic groups.
Another notable change during this period was the rise in births
to unmarried women. In 2008, a record 41% of births in the
United States were to unmarried women, up from 28% in 1990. The
share of births that are non-marital is highest for black women
(72%), followed by Hispanics (53%), whites (29%) and Asians
(17%), but the increase over the past two decades has been
greatest for whites – the share rose 69%. Just over half of
births (53%) in 2008 were to white women, and a qua