Blacks still lead whites in out-of-wedlock birth rates, but gap is closing: report

Jet, June 26, 1995

For decades out-of-wedlock birth rates have been significantly higher among Black women than White women.

Even though the unmarried birth rate for Black women is still higher, the gap is closing, according to recently released information from the National Center for Health Statistics.

In 1970 for instance, the birth rate for unmarried Black women was seven times the White rate. By 1980 the birth rate for unmarried Black women had decreased to four times the rate of White women, the information says.

In addition, the White out-of-wedlock birth rate has surged 94 percent since 1980 while the Black rate has risen just 7 percent.

"By 1992, the rate for Black women was 2.5 times the rate for White women," states information provided in the report.

The highest birth rates were among unmarried Hispanic women (95.3 per 1,000), followed by Black women (86.5) and White women (35.2).

The information also notes that the birth rate for White teens has doubled since 1980, while the rate for Black teens rose 20 percent.

Unwed mothers are generally single women in their late teens or early 20s with lower incomes and less education than other mothers, said Stephanie Ventura, a government demographer who prepared the report.