Births outside of marriage most common among moms from Latin America % of USS births to mothers who are unmarried, by mother's nativity and region of birth, 2014
U.S. births outside of marriage have declined since 2008, primarily among immigrant women. Over the long term, nonmarital births had been on the rise in the U.S. In 2014, 40% of all U.S. births were to unmarried women, up from 21% of births in 1984. Among foreign-born women, the share of births that occurred outside of marriage hit a high of 37% in 2008 and has since fallen steadily. Among U.S.-born women, the share of babies born outside of marriage has held steady over that same period. While foreign-born women have always been less likely to have babies outside of marriage than U.S.-born women, the roughly 10-percentage-point gap in this measure in 2014 (42% vs. 33%) is the widest since data became available in 1984.
The decline in unmarried births to foreign-born moms is due in part to their changing regional origins. In recent years, the share of babies born to moms from Latin America has declined, while the share of babies born to moms from regions such as Asia has increased. New foreign-born mothers from Latin America were roughly four times as likely as moms from Asia to be unmarried in 2014. This shift reflects a larger change in U.S. immigration: Asia recently replaced Latin America as the largest source of new immigrants to the U.S.
Births outside of marriage most  | common among moms from Latin  | America  | % of USS births to mothers who are unmarried, by  | mother's nativity and region of birth, 2014  | Latin Ame rica  | 48  | U.S born  | 42  | Ocea nia  | 38  | All foreign born  | 33  | Sub Saha ran Africa  | 26  | Europe  | 17  | Other North Ame rica  | 11  | Asia  | 10  | Middle East-North Africa  | 5  | Source: Pew Research Centeranalysis ofNational Center forHealth  | Statistics data  | "Births outside ofmarriage decline for immigrantwwmmen"  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 