Out of Wedlock Birthrate Out of Control

Kiki Bradley / March 19, 2009

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report Wednesday on preliminary data for 2007 birth rates in the United States. Among those statistics, a new historic high — 39.7 percent of babies born in America are to unmarried women. Even worse, 71.6 percent of out-of-wedlock births are to African American women.

This should be alarming to read considering the negative societal implications for children born and raised in single parent households. It is well documented that compared with children born to married couples, those born outside of marriage score lower on tests, have increased chances for committing a crime, have higher chances of living in poverty, experience more emotional and behavioral problems, are more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol, and have higher chances of becoming pregnant as teens.

Most of the poverty in America can be intrinsically linked to the decline of marriage. When cash assistance programs were first introduced in society during the War on Poverty, less than ten percent of babies were born out of wedlock. (more…)