Major cultural and economic changes here to stay


A new report from the United Nations finds more children are being born out of wedlock.

United Nations Population Fund found that 40 percent of all births in the U.S. now occur outside of wedlock. That’s up from 10 percent in 1970.

Research finds births in the U.S. and European Union are predominantly to unmarried couples living together rather than to single mothers.

The Heritage Foundation's DeVoss Center for Religion and Civil Society director Emilie Kao said children born to parents who aren't married is a big cost on society.

“Children who are born out of wedlock are four times more likely to be poor if they’re father isn’t present. They are twice as likely to drop out of school,” said Kao. “Children who are raised by married parents are 82 percent less likely to end up in poverty.”

State demographer Lloyd Potter says this is a trend that has been slowly happening for years now.

“In Texas it is very comparable to the rest of the country. We might have a slightly above the national balance,” said Potter. “If you see something happening nationally, it’s probably happening in Texas. And, that’s a big factor of it.”

There’s a correlations between the rise in births outside of marriage to delays in childbearing.

The average age an American woman has her first child is now 27, up from 22 in 1970.

Even more couples are choosing not to have kids at all.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the U.S. fertility rate hit a historic 30-year low last year.


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