Chapter 1. Demographics

Indicator 7. Birth Rates and Births to Unmarried Females

In 2009, there were 39 live births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19, about 96 births per 1,000 females ages 20 to 24, and 111 births per 1,000 females ages 25 to 29.⁴  For 15- to 19-year-olds, the birth rate increased from 53 per 1,000 females in 1980 to 60 per 1,000 in 1990 and then declined to 41 per 1,000 in 2005. Although they had been declining since 1990, teenage birth rates increased in both 2006 and 2007, with 43 births per 1,000 females in 2007, before declining to 39 births per 1,000 females in 2009. Birth rates for women ages 20 to 24 followed a similar pattern, increasing from 115 to 117 births per 1,000 women between 1980 and 1990 and then declining to 102 per 1,000 in 2005. In 2006 and 2007, birth rates increased and were 106 per 1,000 women ages 20 to 24 in both years, before declining to 96 births per 1,000 females in 2009.

In 2009, Hispanics had the highest birth rate of any racial/ethnic group across all age groups. For Hispanic teenagers, the rate was more than four times that of Asian/Pacific Islander teenagers (70 per 1,000 vs. 15 per 1,000 females, respectively). Among teenagers, Asian/Pacific Islander females had a lower birth rate than any other racial/ethnic group in 2009, followed by Whites (26 per 1,000), American Indians/Alaska Natives (56 per 1,000), Blacks (59 per 1,000), and Hispanics. A similar pattern held for women ages 20 to 24 years old in 2009. Asian/Pacific Islander women had the lowest birth rate (58 per 1,000), followed by Whites (77 per 1,000), American Indians/Alaska Natives (109 per 1,000), Blacks (124 per 1,000), and Hispanics (151 per 1,000).

In 2008, the latest year for which unmarried birth rates were available, the birth rate for unmarriedteenage females was 37 per 1,000. Between 1980 and 1995, births to unmarried teenage females increased from 28 to 44 births per 1,000 females, and then declined to 35 per 1,000 females in 2005. Between 1980 and 2008, the number of births to unmarried women ages 20 to 24 increased from 41 to 79 per 1,000 women. Similarly, among unmarried women ages 25 to 29, the number of births increased between 1980 and 2008 from 34 to 76 per 1,000 women.

View Table 7
View Figure 7