Single parent
In the United States, 83% of single parents are mothers. Among this percentage of single mothers: 45% of single mothers are currently divorced or separated, 1.7% are widowed, 34% of single mothers never have been married. Although decades ago, having a child outside of marriage and/or being a single mother was not prominent. Census information from 1960 tells us that in that year, only nine percent of children lived in single parent families. Today four out of every ten children are born to an unwed mother.
Maternal mortality in the United States
Healthy People is a federal organization that is managed by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In 2010, the US maternal mortality ratio was 12.7 (deaths per 100,000 live births). This was 3 times as high as the Healthy People 2010 goal, a national target set by the US government.