The United States Census Bureau has recently released new data on women’s living arrangements at the time of their first child’s birth over the past three decades, revealing significant differences between women with and without a bachelor’s degree.
In 1990-1994, some 62.2 percent of women were married, 17.4 percent were cohabitating with a partner, and 20.4 percent were neither married nor cohabitating at the time of their first child’s birth. Over the next three decades, the overall share of women who were married at first birth stayed relatively stable, currently standing at 60.8 percent in 2020-2024. However, cohabitating became more common, while living without a partner became less common over time. As of 2020-2024, 23.9 percent of women were cohabitating and 15.3 percent were neither married nor cohabitating at the time of their first child’s birth.
Notably, there are major differences in women’s living arrangements at first birth based on new mothers’ educational attainment. For women with a bachelor’s degree, the share who were married at their first child’s birth rose from 74.4 percent in 1990-1994 to 84.5 percent in 2020-2024. For women with less than a bachelor’s degree, the share who were married at first birth decreased from 58.6 percent to 40.6 percent over the same time period.
The share of college-educated women who were cohabitating at their first child’s birth remained stable at 11.2 percent from 1990 to 2024, while the share who were neither married nor cohabitating dropped from 14.4 percent to 4.4 percent. The opposite trend was found among women with less than a bachelor’s degree. For these new mothers, cohabitating rose from 19.2 percent to 34.8 percent, while living without a partner remained relatively stable, rising slightly from 22.2 percent in 1990-1994 to 24.6 percent in 2020-2024.