More than 40 percent of all children in U.S. now born out of wedlock

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
11/1/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Birth rate in U.S. hits all-time low

The birth rate in the U.S. hit an all-time low last year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of those births, 40.7 percent were born to mothers out of wedlock.

According to the U.S. department of Health and Human Services, fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy and criminality.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "The 2011 preliminary number of U.S. births was 3,953,593, 1 percent less (or 45,793 fewer) births than in 2010; the general fertility rate (63.3 per 1,000 women age 15-44 years) declined to the lowest rate ever reported for the United States," the report stated.

It must be pointed out that while the overall birth rate declined to a record low, the birth rates for women in the 35-39 and 40-44 age groups actually increased from 2010 to 2011.

Among all women in the United States - which included those as young as 10 and as old as 54 - the birth rate declined from 64.1 per 100,000 in 2010 to 63.2 per 100,000 in 2011.

Among women 10 to 14 years old, it held steady at 0.4 per 100,000. Women from the ages of 15-19 years old, it declined from 34.2 to 31.3. Among women 20-24 years old, it declined from 90.0 to 85.3. Women 25-29, it declined from 108.3 to 107.2 and among women 30-34 years old, it held steady at 96.5.

Among women 35-39 years old, however, birth rates increased from 45.9 per 100,000 to 47.2. Among women 40-44, it increased from 10.2 to 10.3. And among women from 45-54, it held steady at 0.7 per 100,000.

In 2011, 1,606,087 babies were born to unmarried women and 2,347,506 were born to married women.

Going against popular assumption --while the percentage of babies born to unmarried women was highest among teens, the percentage of babies delivered by unmarried women of older ages increased from 2010 to 2011.

Single-parent families, or households without fathers, have been blamed for a variety of social ills.

According to the U.S. department of Health and Human Services, fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy and criminality.

In addition, teenagers living in single-parent households are more likely to abuse alcohol and at an earlier age compared to children reared in two-parent households. "The absence of the father in the home affects significantly the behavior of adolescents and results in the greater use of alcohol and marijuana," researcher Deane Scott Berman wrote in the 1995 study, "Risk Factors Leading to Adolescent Substance Abuse."

In addition, a study of 156 victims of child sexual abuse found that the majority of the children came from disrupted or single-parent homes; only 31 percent of the children lived with both biological parents.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Children born out of wedlock, birth rates, mnother, drug and alcohol abuse

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1 - 6 of 6 Comments

Kathy
6 months ago
Wow, if they now live in Washington state or Colorado, they can now enjoy recreational marijuania...so putting them at risk for smoking dope because of being a child born out of wedlock, is now not one of the factors in those states. All kids can smoke dope now. We have become Europe.
Theresa H
6 months ago
Not for nothing did God ordain that the human race would propagate through the "union" of a man and a woman committed to each other. "Whatsoever God has joined together let no man put asunder." (Mk 10:9) Every child needs both his/her mother and father in order to mature and they truly "need" to see their parents joined in a loving relationship....A child who does not get this has a bleak future--at least without help from someone else.... Nothing works well when God is not in the "picture."
vance
6 months ago
Great article. This gives us the stats without much analysis. Why is this occurring? Perhaps the Culture of Death could have much to do with it. The Culture of Death is anti-family, anti-children, anti-Life. The Party of Death and Deceit booed and hissed God 3 times at their convention. We as a society have degenerated to new low levels. This is a result of decades of Hollywood and Liberalism. It is also a result of decades of no Catholic leadership that allowed the corruption to go unchallenged. Until we see a Catholic Church leadership opposing the HHS mandate, abortion, and homosexual marriage from 'The Pulpit', our society will continue its downward slide.
abey
6 months ago
Where man is called to responsibility what is seen is irresponsibility, to a Spiritual vacuum.
ruth
6 months ago
I will pray for you. So many women are led to believe that what would be best for "unnormal children' is to not let them live. What some doctors, nurses and the government don't know is that in giving love we receive it. You must forgive yourself and go forward to do good in your life. My prayers are with you and I hope you find peace that only the Lord can give you.
Beth
6 months ago
Anybody reading this article who would still argue that it makes no difference whether the law continues to uphold the fundamental connection between marriage and child rearing is a fool.

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