37% of Births Now Out of Wedlock: 3/4 of them to women age 20 and older

Officials at the National Center for Health Statistics reported that the birth rate among girls ages 10 to 17 dropped in 2005 to the lowest level on record. But births among unmarried mothers in their 20s rose dramatically, the center found. Nearly four in 10 babies born in the United States in 2005 were born to unmarried mothers, an all-time high for out-of-wedlock births.

“A lot of people think of teenagers and unmarried mothers synonymously, but they are not driving this,” Stephanie Ventura, a co-author of the report, told the Associated Press.

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse of Concerned Women for American had this to say:

Planned Parenthood and other leftist, pro-abortion organizations have succeeded in painting a picture of unwed motherhood as that of an ill-fated teenager who — from ignorance, impulsiveness, lack of “protection,” or emotional vulnerability — “finds” herself pregnant. But is this correct? Planned Parenthood also conveys the idea that most of the babies being born out of wedlock are unintended and unwanted. Is that correct?

When more than 3/4 of the 1.5 million unwed births are to women age 20 and older, these results cannot be blamed on youthful immaturity.

These post teen behaviors can only be characterized as reckless and irresponsible given what is well known about (a) the skyrocketing incidence of sexually transmitted diseases among sexually active, unmarried women (b) the abysmally high rates of poverty among children living in female-headed families and (c) the well documented risks of children living in father absent households...

Read more of this article at CWFA.org