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Births to Unmarried Women
Births to Unmarried Women is the percent of all births in which the woman is
not married. In 1996, about three out of every ten Arkansas women giving
birth were unmarried. Unmarried motherhood is frequently associated with
being young, poor, having relatively little education, and receiving poor
prenatal care. As a consequence, such women tend to have a greater incidence
of a broad range of adverse reproductive outcomes.
Births to Unmarried Women is calculated simply as a percentage of all births.
In 1996, there were 12,157 such births out of a total of 36,356. Therefore,
the percent of Births to Unmarried Women = (12,157 / 36,356) X 100 = 33.4
percent. As a comparison, 32.4 percent of all births in the United States in
1996 were to unmarried women.
Births to unmarried women were highest in the Delta region of eastern
Arkansas. For the 1992-1996 period, births to unmarried women were highest in
Phillips County, with an average of 65.5 percent of all live births being born
to unmarried women. Stone County, on the other end of the spectrum, averaged
only 17.1 percent of live births to unmarried women.
There were significant differences by ADH Health Management Area in the
percent of births to unmarried women from 1992-1996. Area 9 had the highest
average at 54.8 percent, while Area 10 was the lowest with 21.6 percent.
Births to Unmarried Women differs significantly by race. About seventy-two
percent of Black Arkansans giving birth during 1992-1996 were unmarried. The
percent was much lower for White Arkansans, at 20.4 percent.
In Arkansas, the long-term trend has been toward an increase in births to
unmarried women. In 1983, 21.9 percent of all births in Arkansas were to
unmarried women. By 1996, this had increased to 33.4 percent.
Nationally, the percent of births to unmarried women has also shown a gradual
increase. In 1980, for instance, the percent of births to unmarried women
stood at 18.4. By 1994, this had steadily increased to 32.6 percent.
Calendar year 1995 showed an unusual dip to 32.2 percent, with a rebound in
1996 up to 32.4.
It should be noted that marital status is reported in reference to the
pregnancy. A woman is considered married if she is married at any time from
conception to birth.
The reader should be cautioned that the percent of births to unmarried women
is influenced by several factors. These include the fertility of both
unmarried and married women, as well as their relative distributions in the
population.
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