14 DAY TRIAL // New statistics indicate that the number of cohabiting couples that go on to have babies outside the boundaries of marriage is growing. The government report indicates that people in this group are in stable relationships and live together, but did not get legally married.
The investigation covered the period from 2006 to 2010, and found out that nearly a quarter (22 percent) of women in the United States giving birth to their first child during this interval were not married. This represents a 10 percent increase from numbers recorded in 2002.
Overall, more than 46 percent of women in the 15-44 age group give birth to children outside marriage. This value represents an 8 percent increase from figures released a decade ago, LiveScience reports.
Interestingly, the average age for becoming a parent remained steady over the past 10 years – 25 for men and 23 for women, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report said.