. 

FROM VITAL & HEALTH STATISTICS OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH . public Heakh Serwce


AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of Health Research, Statistics, and Technology Number 137 � SePtemkr 26, 1980


Selected Demographic Characteristics of 

Teenage Wives and Mothers a 

@ 

INTRODUCTION 

In the United States in 1976, about 1,122,000 

women 15-19 years of age were married, divorced, widowed, or separated; of these, 480,000 

were mothers of at least one chiId. Another 

332,000 women in this age group were never 

married mothers who had offspring living with 

them. The 1,122,000 ever married women 15-19 

accounted for about 11 percent, and the 332,000 

ever married mothers, about 3 percent of the 

0.4 million women 15-19 years of age in 1976. 

This report provides the first and most recent 

national estimates of the current contraceptive 

practice and family background of teenage wives 

and mothers and their husbands. It also compares 

them with their counterparts 20-44 years of age 

in terms of these and other selected characteristics. These estimates are based on a special 

analysis of data from Cycle II of the National 

Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), conducted in 

1976 by the National Center for Health Statistics. 

A number of trends have prompted recent 

concern about teenage marriage and childbearing. 

These trends include the increasing number of 

women 15-19 years of age (a result of the high 

birth rate during the late 1950’s), the increasing 

number of teenage marriages, and the increasing 

proportion of all births occurring to teenage 

mothers. 

The U.S. Bureau of the Census has reported 

that the number of women 15-19 years of age 

increased by 57 percent from 1960 through 

aThis was Sara 

1976, from 6.6 million to 10.4 million. Reflecting this increase in the number of young 

women, the annual numbers of teenage marriages 

also increased over the same period. 

However, the rates for teenage marriages and 

births did not increase. Data from the marriage 

registration system (table 1) show that of all 

brides marrying for the first time in 1976 about 

38 percent (or 571,000) were under 20 years of 

age. In 1960 teenage brides had accounted for 

48 percent (or 482,000) of all first marriages. 

From 1940 through 1960, birth rates to 

women 15-19 years of age (births per 1,000 

women 15-1 9) increased from 54.1 to 89.1. 

From 1960 through 1976, however, this rate 

decreased from 89.1 to 53.5, a 40 percent 

reduction, and approximately the 1940 level. 

Among women 20 years of age and older, however, birth rates declined even more from 1960 

through 1976.1 As a result of this differential 

decline and the increase in the number of 

women 15-19 years of age, births to teenage 

mothers accounted for 18 percent of all births 

in 1976, compared with 14 percent in 1960. 

Since 1976, the birth rates for women 15-19 

have remained at about the same levels. 

The data for this report were collected by 

means of personal interviews with a multistage 

area probability sample of women 15-44 years 

of age in the household population of the conterminous United States. Women were eligible 

for incIusion in the sampIe if they were curren:ly 

married, previously married, or never married 

but with offspring presently living in the household. This report does not include the relatively 

small number of teenage mothers under 15 years 

of age.z Similarly, never married teenage mothers e whose offspring were not living with them were

report prepared by Millman, M.A., 

d William D. Mosher, Ph. D., Division of Vital Statics. 
2 acklncedata 

Table 1. Number of first marriagas and percent distribution by age of bride and age of groom at first marriaga: 

United States, 1960 and 1976 

Bride Groom 

Age 

1976 1960 1976 1960 

Number of first marriages in thoumnds ....................... .............. ...... ....................... 1,491 1,015 1,450 1,028 

I All ages . .. .... .. .. .... .. ... ... .. .. .... ... . ..... ... ... .. .. .... ... .. . ... .. .... . .. ..... . .. ... ... . .... .. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Under 18 years . ... .... .. .. .. .. . .. .. ... .. .. .... . ... ... . .. . ..... ... ... .. .. . ... .. . ..... . .. ... ... . .... .. .. .... .. .. .... . .. 11.9 15.1 2.1 1.8 

18-19 years . .... ... . ..... . .. ..... ... .. ... .. . ..... .. .. .... . .. .... .. .. ... .. .. ..... . . ..... ... .... .. . ..... . .. ... .. ... ... .. . . 26.4 32.4 15.4 15.2 

20 years and over . ... .. . .. .... .. .. .... .. . .... . .. . .... .. . .... .. .. .... .. .. ... ... .. ... . ... ... .. .. .... . ... ... .. .. .... . .. . 61.6 52.5 82.5 83.0 

20 years ..... .. ... .. ... .. .... .. .. .... ... . ..... . .. ... ... . ..... . .. .. . .. . . ..... .. . .... . ... .... .. . .... . ... .... ... ... .. .. . 12.1 11.0 10.9 9.1 

Age at first marriage Parcent distribution 

SOURCES: National Center for Health Statistics: Vital Statisfi”cs of the United States, 1960, Vol. 111,Marriage and Divorce. Public 

Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964. table 2-6. 

National Center for Health Statistics: First marriages, United States, 1968-1976, by B. F. Wilson and E. Hume. Vital and Health 

Statistz”m. Series 21-No. 35. DHEW Pub. No. (PHS) 79-1913. Public Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printimz Office. 

Sept. 1979, tabIes B and C and unpublished tabulations. 

not included in the sample. (Approximately 7 

percent of out-of-wedlock babies born to women 

aged 15-19 were not living with their mothers 

in 1976. The comparable figure for 1971 was 

about 14 percent. It should be noted, however, 

that these percents are based on only 148 cases 

in 1976 and 259 cases in 1971 and refer only to 

out-of-wedlock babies born from first conceptions. They should, therefore, be interpreted 

with some caution.3 ) 

From January through September 1976, 

3,009 black wornen and 5,602 women of other 

races were interviewed in the NSFG. Of these, 

448 women were 15-19 years of age. This report 

is based on information provided by these 

teenage women, of whom 193 were black and 

255 were of races other than black. The information from these women was inflated to provide national estimates of these statistics. 

Because they are based on a sample, estimates 

from the NSFG are subject to sampling error. 

Further discussion of sampling error, comparisons with other data, and definitions of selected 

terms can be found in the Technical Notes. 

The statistics on women 20-44 years of age 

are shown in this report only for purposes of 

comparison. Other groups could be used, but 

this group is convenient for the purposes 

this report–principally, to highlight some of th9 

charac;eristi& of ~eenage Wi;es ~d mothers. It 

should not necessarily be inferred that teenage 

marriage or childbearing is the only or the principal cause of differences between teenagers and 

the older women described. These differences 

may be the result of such things as their ages at 

interview or the social customs prevailing when 

they were married or when they had their children. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF EVER MARRIED 

TEENAGE WOMEN AND THEIR HUSBANDS 

Tables 2 and 3 present selected characteristics 

of the 1,122,000 ever married teenage women 

and their husbands and of the 30,725,000 ever 

married women 20-44 years of age and their 

current or last husbands, in the United States in 

1976. (In this report, for convenience, the ever 

married teenage women are referred to as 

“teenage wives, ” although a very small proportion of them were no longer currently married 

at the time of interview. See Definitions 

Terms.) * 
...............................................................

a&mdata3 

Table 2. Number of ever married women 15-44 years of age, by age and race, and percent distribution by selected characteristics, 

according to age and race: United 6tates, 1976 

15-44 years of age 15-19 years of age 2044 years of age 

Characteristic All All 

racesl White Black recesl White Black 

Number of woman in thousands .................. T31,847 27,929 3,314 1,122]1 982 I 109 T30,725 268947 3,205 

Percent distribution 

All women ................................... I00.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

— 

Age

a 

15-17 years.................................................. 0.6 0.6 ‘0.4 17.2 17.6 *1 3.3 . . . ... . . . 

18-19 years................................................. 2.C 2.9 2.9 82.8 82.4 86.7 . . . ... . . . 

20-24 years. .............. .................................. 17.5 17.7 16.7 . . . . . . . . . 18.1 18.3 17.3 

25-28 years ................................................. 23.4 23.5 21.2 . . . . . . . . . 24.3 24.4 21.9 

30-44 years................................................. 55.6 55.3 58.8 . . . . . . . . . 57.6 57.3 60.7 

Age et marriage 

Under 18years....... ......................... ...... ...... 20.5 20.2 25.0 59.8 59.4 70.3 19.1 18.8 23.4 

18-19 years...................... ............................ 31.7 32.4 28.2 40.2 40.6 28.7 31.4 32.1 28.1 

20-44 years....................... ........................... 47.7 47.3 45.8 . . . . . . . . . 49.5 49.1 47.4 

Age at first birth 

rider 18 years .......................... .................. 11.2 9.4 27.6 26.3 23.8 54.4 10.7 8.8 26.6 

18-19 years..................... .................. ........... 19.5 19.3 23.0 16.2 16.9 � 14.4 19.6 19.4 23.3 

20-44 years.......... ........................................ 50.8 51.9 39.3 . . . . . . . . . 52.7 53.8 40.7 

No live bi~hs ............................................. .. 18.5 19.4 10.1 57.5 59.3 31.2 17.1 18.0 9.4 

Timing of first birth 

Premarital birth ..................... ...................... 6.6 3.6 33.3 *8.4 *4.8 42.9 6.5 3.5 33.0 

O-7 months after marriage ........................... 15.4 14.9 20.5 16.9 17.7 �14.O 15.3 14.8 20.7 

8 months after marriage or more. ................ 59.4 62.0 35.9 17.4 18.4 *11.9 60.9 63.6 36.7 

No live tirths ............................................... 18.7 19.6 10.3 57.3 59.1 31.2 17.2 18.1 9.6 

Children ever born 

Nona ...................... ...................................... 18.4 19.4 10.0 57.2 59.0 31.2 17.0 17.9 9.2 

1 . . 20.6 20.1 22.9 34.5 34.0 47.1 20.0 19.6 22.0 

2 or more ..................................................... 61.0 60.5 67.2 *8.2 *7.O *2I .8 63.0 62.4 68.7 

Education 

0-11 years.................................................... 24.5 23.0 36.5 52.6 53.8 46.2 23.5 21.8 36.2 

12years or more. ......................................... 75.6 77.0 63.5 47.4 46.2 53.8 76.5 78.2 63.8 

Poverty level inmme 

Below poverty Ieval income ........................ . 9.2 7.0 28.2 14.6 12.2 39.8 9.0 6.8 27.8 

Poverty level inmme and above ................... 90.8 93.0 71.8 85.4 87.8 60.2 91.0 93.2 72.2 

Labor force status 

In the labor force ......................................... 51.3 50.5 59.7 41.3 41.4 33.6 51.7 50.8 60.6 

Working .......... ...... ...................... ............ 47.8 47.1 55.3 37.6 37.7 33.6 48.2 47.4 56.0 

Unemployed or with a job but not at 

work ................................................. ... 3.5 3.4 4.5 *3.7 �3.8 *0.O 3.5 3.4 

t in the labor force . ................................. 48.7 49.5 40.3 58.7 58.6 66.4 48.3 49.2 3;:: 

s In school....... .............................. ........... 2.0 1.8 3.2 *5.9, *5.7 *9.4 1.9 1.7 2.9 

Keeping house or other .......................... 46.7 47.7 37.1 52.8 52.9 57.0 46.5 47.5 36.4 

Bee footnote at end of table. 
4 . . 

‘7 

Table 2. Nurr@r of ever married women 15-44 years of age, by age and race, and percent distribution by selected characteristics, 

cording to age and race: United 8tates, 1976-Qm. 

15-44 years of age I 15-19 vears of age I 2044years of aga 

Characteristic All All All 

races 1 White Black racer? White Black races 1 White Black 

Seeking pregnancy ................................ ....... 5.6 5.3 6.3 �7.7 �5.9 �11.3 5.5 5.3 6.1 

Other nonuser .............................................. 10,7 9.7 18.5 �6.9 �6.5 �1 2.0 10.8 9.8 18.8 

Oral corrt racapt iva pi II................................. 22.7 23.0 21.6 50.7 51.6 46.2 21.7 22.0 20.7 

Intrauterine device ............... ...................... .. 6.6 6.5 7.1 �6.5 �6.3 �9.1 6.6 6.5 7.1 

Other 

Recaipt of Aid to Families 

Wth Depandent Children (AFDC) Percent distribution 

Received AFDC ... .. ... . .. ... .. .. .. .... . .... .. .. ... .. .. ... 7.1 5.4 20.4 9.4 �8.5 �19.8 7.0 5.3 20.4 

Did not receive AFDC . ... . ... .... ... . .... .. .. ... .. .. . . 92.9 94.6 79.6 80.6 91.5 80.2 93.0 84.7 79.6 

Living arrangements at age14 

Living with both parents . . .. ... ... .... . ... .... . .. .... . 76.7 79.1 56.5 56.3 58.3 50.1. 77.4 79.8 56.7 

Living with one or neither ~rent, . .. . .... . .... ... 23.3 20.9 43.5 43.7 41.7 49.9 22.6 20.2 43.3 

Current mntraceptive status 

8terile . ... .. . . .... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. ... ... . .. . .... . . ...... . 29.6 30.2 26.5 �1.8< �1 .7 “3.2 30.7 31.3 27.3 

Pregnant, post partum ..... . . .... .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .... 6.1 6.2 5.5 14.5 15.0 �1 4.1 5.8 5.9 5.2 

methods .............. ........ ....................... 18.6 19.1 14.5 12.0 13.0 �2.1 118.9 19.3 14.9

lIn~lude~ white, black, and other races 

NOTE: 8tatistica in tablea 2, 3, and 4 are based on a sample of the household population of the conterfinoua United 8tates. 8ee I 

Technical Notes for estimates of sampling variability and definitions of selected terms. 

About 5 of 6 (83 percent) of the teenage 

wives were 18-19 years of age. Only 17 percent 

were 15-17 years of age. Table 2 shows that 

about 31 percent of ever married women 20-44 

years of age had their first child before the age 

of 20. The differences described in this report 

between ever married teenagers and ever married 

women 20-44 would probably be larger if 

women who had first married or had had their 

first child as teenagers were excluded from the 

age group 20-44. For an analysis of differences 

in fertility after the teen years between women 

who had a teenage birth and women who did 

not, and a review of the literature on some other 

differences between teenage mothers and other 

women, see reference 4. 

Living arrangements of the respondent at 

age 14 may be viewed as an indicator of the 

stability of her family life while she was growing 

up. By this indicator the family background of 

teenage wives was more likely to have been 

unstable than that of other wives. About 44 

percent of teenage ever married women, compared with only 23 percent of ever married 

women 20-44 years of age, were living with only 

one or neither parent at age 14. A report by the 

U.S. Bureau of the Census indicates that about 

21 percent of persons 10-17 years of age were 

living with only one or neither parent in 1976.s 

Although only 17 percent of teenage wives 

were under 18 years of age, about 53 percent 

had not completed high school by the date of 

the interview. This suggests that the education 

of some of the teenage wives was interrupted 

or terminated by marriage or childbeanng.G 

Teenage wives were significantly less likely to 

have completed high school than wives aged 

20-44: 47 percent of teenage wives and 77 percent of wives 20-44 had completed 12 years of 

education by the date of intemiew. 

Teenage wives were significantly more likely 

than wives aged 20-44 to have had no births 

(57 percent compared with 17 percent) or only _ 

one birth (34 percent compared with 20 percent) by the date of interview. Teenage wives 

were also significantly more likely to be preg-
Table 3. Number of ever married women 15-44 years of age, by age and race, and percent distribution by salected characteristics of their 

current or last husband, according to age and race: United States, 1976 

15-44 years of age I years of age 20-44 years of age II 15-19

Characteristic of hueband 

Number of women in thousands .................. 

Percent distribution 

All women ............... .................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Age at wife’s firat rnerriege 

Under 18 years . . .... .. . ..... .. . .... . . .... . .. .... . .. .. ... . . 3.2 3.1 4.8 �8.4 �8.9 “5.4 3.0 2.9 4.7 

18-19 years ... .. . ..... .. .. .... .. . .. .. ... ... .. ..... ... . ... .. .. 17.7 18.0 17.6 32.9 33.3 33.5 17.2 17.4 17.0 

20-24 ymrs .. .. . ..... .. . .. ... ... ..... . ...... . .... ... .. ... . .. . 54.0 54.7 48.5 49.6 49.5 42,3 54.1 54.9 48.8 

25 years and over . .. ...... . ... .. .. . ... .. . .... . .... ... .. . .. 25.1 24.2 28.1 9.1 �8.3 �1 8.8 25.7 24.7 28.5 

Occupation 

professional, managerial, sales, clerical, 

and kindrd .... ........................................... 41.4 43.9 19.6 14.8 15.0 �1 7.3 42.4 45.0 19.7 

Craft, operatives, labor, transpomation, 

farm labor, service, and kindred ................. 53.5 52.5 61.4 85.1 84.9 82.7 52.3 51.3 60.7 

Never ~rkd ....................................... ....... 5.1 3.5 19.0 �0.1 �0.1 �0.O 5.3 3.7 19.7 

.- Education 

J-n yMrs ... ... . ... .. .. .... ... .. .... .. .. .. .. ..... . .. ... .. .. .. 24.1 23.1 34.6 33.9 35.0 �28.3 23.7 22.6 34.8 

12 years or more . . .. .. ... ... .. ... .. .. .. . .... .. .. .... .. .. .. 75.9 76.9 65.4 66.1 65.0 71.7 76.3 77.4 85.2 

Living arrengemants at age 14 

Living with both parents . .. ... . .. ... . .. . ... .. ... ... .. 77.3 78.5 66.9 70.3 70.1 77.e 77.6 78.8 66.5 

Living with one or naither parent .. . .. .. .. .. ... .. 22.7 21.5 33.1 28.7 28.9 �22.2 22.4 21.2 33.5 

lIncludes white, black, and other races. 

NOTE Statistics in tables 2, 3, and 4 are baaed on a sample of the household population of the conterminooa United States. 8ee 

Technical Notes for estimates of sampling variabilityy and definitions of selected terms. 

nant or post partum at the date of interview poverty level incomes, compared with about 9 

than wives 20-44 years of age (15 percent com- percent of ever married women 20-44 years of 

pared with 6 percent). age. This difference, although statistically signifiTeenage wives were not significantly more cant, should be interpreted with caution (see 

likely than wives 20-44 years of age to have had “Definitions of Terms”). Ever married women 

a premarital birth (8 percent compared with 7 15-19 were less likely to be in the labor force 

percent). Similarly, the teenage wives were not than ever married women 20-44 (41 percent 

significantly more likely to have had a pre- compared with 52 percent). The ever married 

marital conception: the proportion of wives teenagers were not, however, significantly more 

whose first birth occurred within 7 months of likely to be receiving Aid to Families With Demarriage was 17 percent for teenage wives and pendent Children (AFDC) than those 20-44 

15 percent for the women 20-44 years of age, (9 percent compared with 7 percent). 

~mot a significant difference. Ever married teenagers were much more 

About 15 percent of ever married teenage likely to be using the oral contraceptive pill at 

women were living in households with below the date of the interview than ever married 
6 achancedata 

women 20-44 (51 percent compared with 22 using the pill may be related to a finding in an0 

percent–figure 1). Because use of the pill re- earlier report that teenage wives were more 

quires a doctor’s prescription and medical likely than other wives to have had a recent 

followup, the high percent of teenage wives family planning visit.7 In that report, the place 

where the most recent family planning visit 

occurred was classified as either “with own 

physician” or at an “organized medical service” 

Figure 1. PERCENT OF WOMEN 15-44 (clinic or other place). The teenage wives were 

YEARS OF AGE USING THE ORAL more likely than other wives to have had their 

CONTRACEPTIVE PILL, BY AGE most recent family planning visit at an organized 

AND MARITAL STATUS: UNITED medical service. Table 2 indicates that there was 

STATES, 1976 no significant difference between teenage and 

other ever married women in the percents trying .60€ to become pregnant or using the intrauterine r 

1—[ 15-19 Years device (IUD). Teenage wives were less likely 

than the ever married women 20-44 to be using _ 20-44 Years 

contraceptive methods other than the piIl and 

IUD (12 percent compared with 19 percent). l— 51 

Statistics in table 2 show that a larger proportion of ever married black women had their 

first child at a relatively young age than white 

ever married women did. About 28 percent of 

black ever married women 15-44 had had their 

first birth before the age of 18 compared with 

about 9 percent of ever married white women 

Similarly, overall and in both age groups, theo 

percent of women with no birth by the date of 

interview was lower for black women than for 

white women. 

The percent of ever married women who 

had a premarital birth was higher for black 

women among both teenagers and women 20-44 

years of age. About 43 percent of black teenage 

wives and 5 percent of white teenage wives had 

a premarital birth. A recent study of teenage 

pregnancy may help to explain the larger percent 

of black ever married women than white ever 

married women who had a premarital birth 

(table 2). That study found that black single 

teenage women were more likely than white 

single teenage women to become premaritally 

pregnant, and much less likely than white 

single teenagers to marry before the outcome 

of a premarital pregnancy (see tables 1-3 of 

reference 3). 

Selected characteristics of the husbands of 

teenage and other ever married women are shown 

in table 3. About 41 percent of the husbands of 

teenage wives were also teenagers at the wife’s 

first marriage. Another 50 percent were 20-2 

own offspring years of age; only 9 percent were 25 years of ag* or older. The data on the occupation of the “ 
� 

� 

admce&m7 

wife’s current or last husband show that 85 

percent of the husbands of teenage wives were 

in “blue collar” occupations–craft, operatives, 

labor, transportation, farm labor, service, and 

kindred. This compares with 52 percent of the 

husbands of wives 20-44 years of age. Only 47 

percent of teenage wives (table 2), but 66 percent of their husbands (table 3), had finished 

high school by the date of interview. This 

large difference may be explained in part by the 

older age of their husbands, but it may also 

reflect the wives’ lower levels of educational 

attainment, or longer delays in completing 

high school. About 56 percent of teenage 

wives were living with both parents at the age 

of 14, compared with 70 percent of their 

husbands. Thus teenage wives were less likely 

than their husbands to have finished high school 

by the date of the interview and less likely to 

have come from two-parent households. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF SINGLE 

(NEVER MARRIED) MOTHERS 

From 1960 through 1976, the number of 

out-of-wedlock births in the United States increased from about 224,000 to 468,000, a 109-

percent increase (see table 5 of reference 1). One 

important reason for this increase was the rising 

number of young women during this period. 

Another was a widespread postponement of 

marriage. A third factor was an increase in the 

rate of out-of-wedlock births. The out-of-wedlock 

birth rate (out-of-wedlock births per 1,000 

unmarried women 15-44 years of age) rose from 

21.6 to 24.7 from 1960 through 1976, a 14-

percent increase.1 For unmarried women 15-19 

years of age, however, this rate increased 57 

percent, from 15.3 in 1960 to 24.0 in 1976.8 

The rates for 1977 and 1978 were about the 

same as in 1976. 

If a woman has had an out-of-wedlock birth, 

has kept the baby, and has never married, she is 

classified in this report as single with her own 

offspring Iiving in the household. Table 4 shows 

selected characteristics of the estimated 332,000 

single (never married) mothers 15-19 years of 

age and the 739,000 single mothers 20-44 years 

� of age who had offspring living with them in 

1976. The single mothers were younger than the 

ever married women. About 65 percent of the 

single mothers were under 25 years of age compared with only 21 percent of ever married 

women. 

Table 4 shows that 67 percent of the 332,000 

single teenage mothers and 70 percent of the 

739,000 single mothers 20-44 years of age were 

black women. So black women accounted for a 

larger percent of single mothers than of the 

general poptdation. This difference appears to 

reflect different outcomes of out-of-wedlock 

pregnancies among white and black teenagers 

as much as any difference in the chances of 

becoming pregnant in the first place. One recent 

study of teenage pregnancy revealed that black 

single teenage women were more likely than 

white single teenage women to become single 

mothers through a combination of five factors: 

a higher percent of black teenage women had 

had intercourse; a higher percent of black 

sexually active women had had a premarital 

first pregnancy; a lower percent of black premantally pregnant women had married before 

the baby was born; a lower percent of black 

women had married soon after a premarital 

birth; and a larger percent of black than white 

teenage mothers had kept their babies.3 

As mentioned previously, the living arrangements of the respondent at age 14 maybe viewed 

as an indicator of the stability of her family life 

during her youth. About 42 percent of single 

mothers were living with only one or neither 

parent at age 14, compared with 23 percent of 

ever married women. Only about 1 in 5 (19 percent) single teenage mothers had finished high 

school by the date of interview, although 3 in 5 

(61 percent) were 18 or 19 years of age at that 

date. This suggests that for many of these young 

women, motherhood interrupted their education.6 

Table 4 also indicates that about 79 percent 

of single teenage mothers in 1976 had their first 

birth before the age of 18, compared with 29 

percent of single mothers 20-44 years of age, 26 

percent of teenage wives, and 11 percent of ever 

married women aged 20-44 years. The high 

proportion of very early first births for single 

teenage mothers probably reflects two facts: 

first, teenage mothers cannot by definition 

include any women whose first births occurred 

after age 19, so the proportion with a birth 

before 17 is higher. Secondly, on reaching the 

age of 18 and the completion of high school, 
................................................

8


‘-l 

Table 4. Number of never married women 1544 years of age who have their own offspring living with them and percent distribution 

by selected charecterist&, according to age: United States, 1976 

Age 

Characteristic 

1544 ] !5-19 I 2044 

Age 

Characteristic 

1544 I 15-19 I 2044 

Nutier of vmmen in thousends.. Poverty level income Percent diatributi! -Con.

All vmmenl ............. .......... 

Race 

White .......... ......... ...... ...... ............ 

Black ........................... ................ 

Age

— 

15-17 years .................................. 

16-19 years ...................... ............ 

20-24 years .................................. 

25-28 years . ..................... ...... ...... 

3044 years .............. .................... 

Age at first birth 

Under 18 years ............... ............. 

16-19 yeers .................................. 

2044 years ........................... ....... 

Children ever born 

1 . 

2 or more. .................................... 

Education 

0-11years ............ ....... ............. .... 

12 years or more. ......................... 

1,071 I 332 I 739 

Percent distribution 

100.0 100.0 1CKt.o 

28.7 31.4 28.9 

69.3 67.3 70.3 

12.1 39.0 . . . 

18.9 61.0 

34.2 . . . 496 

16.1 . . . 23.3 

18.7 . . . 27.1 

44.3 79.4 28.6 

25.8 ‘20.6 26.2 

28.8 . . . 43.2 

62,8 85.4 52.6 

37.2 “1 4.6 47.4 

56.6 81.4 45.3 

43.4 � 18.6 54.7 

Ielow poverty level inmme ..... ............ 

‘overty level income and above ........... 

IAmr force status 

n the labor force ................................ 

Working ......................................... 

Unemployed or with a job but 

not at work .............. .................... 

Jot in the labor force ........ .................. 

In school ............................ ............. 

Keeping house or other ................... 

Receipt of Aid to Families With 

Dependent Children (AFDC) 

teceived AFDC .. .................... ......... .... 

)id not receive AFDC ............. ............ 

Living arrarmements at asre 14 

.iving with both parents ..................... 

.iving with one or neither parent ........ 

Current contraceptive status 

kerile ....... ............... ................ ............ 

‘regnent, post partum ......................... 

baking pregnancy ......... ......... ............. 

)ther nonuser ...................................... 

)ral mntraceptive pill .......................... 

ntrauteri ne device .. ............................. 

)ther methods ........ ...................... ....... 

61.0 56.3 62.9 

39.0 43.7 37.1 

30.1 �1 4.7 37.0 

26.6 �13.1 32.7 

�3.5 �1.6 �4.3 

68.9 85.3 63.0 

12.4 26.4 �5.2 

67.5 56.9 57.7 

70.3 75.9 67.7 

28.7 24.1 32.3 

57.8 49.1 61.7 

42.2 50.9 38.3 

�7.9 �1.3 �1O.9 

�7.3 “14.0 �4.3 

. . . . . . . . . 

27.8 28.1 27.6 

36.5 40.9 34.6 

12.0 *1O.8 12.5 

�8.5 �4.8 �1O.2 

lInc]~de~ white, black, and other races.


NOTE: Statistics in tables 2, 3, and 4 me based on a sample
 of the household population of the conterminous United States. See 

Technical Notes for estimates of sampling variability and definitions of selected terms. 

women marry at a sharply increased rate ;g thus 

many single teenage mothers may eventually 

marry, perhaps after they complete their education. They would therefore not be classified as 

single mothers at some later time, but rather as 

ever married women with a premarital birth. 

Single mothers (table 4) were much more 

likely than ever married women (table 2) to be 

receiving AFDC (7 O percent compared with 7 

percent) and to have incomes below the poverty 

level (61 percent compared with 9 percent). 

Overall and in both age groups, single mothers 

were less likely than ever married women to be 

in the labor force. In addition, the teenage single 

mothers were less likely than single mothers 20-

44 to be in the labor force. 

About 41 percent of teenage single mothers 

and 35 percent of those 20-44 years of age were 

using the oral contraceptive pill at the date of 

interview (figure 1). This difference was not 

statistically significant. ,~ ! 

— ——— 
----------------------------------------- ---

--------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------

------

------------------------------

9


REFERENCES 

lNational Center for Health Statistics: Facts o~.Li~e 

and Death. DHEW Pub. No. (PHS) 79-1222. Public 

Health Service. Hyattsville, Md. Nov. 1978, table 4. 

2National Center for Health Statistics: Teenage 

childbearing: United States, 1966-75, by S. J. Ventura. 

Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 26, No. 5, Supp. 

DHEW Pub. No. (HRA) 77-1120. Health Resources 

Administration. Hyattsville, Md. Sept. 8, 1977, tables 1 

and 2. 

3 Zelnik, M., and Kantner, J. F.: First pregnancies to 

women aged 15-19: 1976 and 1971. Fare. Plann. Perspect. 10(1): table 6, Jan.-Feb. 1978. 

4Millman, S. R., and Hendershot, G. E.: Early 

fertility and lifetime fertility: evidence from the National 

Survey of Family Growth, Cycle II. Fare. Plann. Perspect. 12. May-June 1980. 

5U.S. Bureau of the Census: Marital status and 

living arrangements: March 1976, Current Population 

Reports, Series P-20, No. 306, table 4. Washington. U.S. 

Government Printing Office, Jan. 1977. 

6Moore, K. A., and W site, L. J.: Early childbearing 

and educational attainment. Fare. Plann. Perspect. 9(5): 

220-225, Sept.-Ott. 1977. 

7 National Center for Health Statistics: Use of 

family planning services by currently married women 15-

44 years of age: United States, 1973 and 1976, by G. E. 

Hendershot. Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics, No. 45. DHEW Pub. No. (PHS) 79-1250. Public 

Health Service. Hyatt@lle, Md. Feb. 7, 1979. 

8National Center for Health Statistics: Advance 

report, final natality statistics, 1976. Monthly Vital 

Statistics Report, Vol. 26, No. 12, Supp. DHEW Pub. 

No. (PHS) 78-1120. Public Health Service. Hyattsville, 

Md. Mar. 29, 1978, table 12; and National Center for 

Health Statistics: Vital Statistics of the United States, 

1960, Vol. I, Natality. Public Health Service. Washington. 

U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962, table I-X. 

‘National Center for Health Statistics: Advance 

report, final marriage statistics, 1976. Monthly Vital 

Statistics Report, Vol. 27, No. 6, Supp. DHEW Pub. 

No. (PHS) 78-1120. Public Health Service. Hyattsville, 

Md. Sept. 13, 1978, table 3. 

SYMBOLS 

Data not available 

Category not applicable . . . 

Quantity zero -

Quantity more than O but less than 0.05 0.0 

Figure does not meet standards of 

* reliability or precision 

.—.——. 
� 10 acbncedata 

TECHNICAL NOTES 

RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES 

Because the National Survey of Family 

.	 Growth (NSFG) is a sample of the household 

population of the conterminous United States 

rather than a complete count, the estimates in 

tables 2-4 are subject to sampling variability. 

To calculate the standard error of an aggregate 

number or percent, the appropriate estimates of 

A and B from table I are used in the equations 

SE ~N,) = (A+ B/N’)% x N’, and 

SE(P)) = [BxlJ’x (loo -P’)/x’1~, 

where N’ is the number of women, P’ is the percent, and X’ is the number of women in the 

denominator of the percent. Statements in the 

text of this report were tested using a 2-tailed 

t-test with 40 degrees of freedom. The relative 

standard error is the ratio of the standard error 

to the statistic being estimated. In this report, 

numbers and percents that have a relative standard error that is greater than 25 percent of the 

estimate itself are considered unreliable. They 

are marked with an asterisk to caution the user 

but may be combined to make other types of 

Table 1. Estimates of A and 6 for relative standard error curves, 

by marital status and race: National Survey of FmW 

Growth, Cycle II 

Marital status A B and race 

Ever married I I 

Never married with 

own offsprinq and 

ever married 

All races . .. ... .. .. .. -0.0001926913 6,494.6569 

I I 

White ...... .. .... .. .. ..... .. .. .. -0.0002362857 6,892.2852 

Black ... .. ... .... ... . ..... .. .... -0.0004813358 2,698.6043 

comparisons of greater precision. Details of the 

procedure used to estimate standard errors can 

be found in “National Survey of Family Growth, 

Cycle I: Sample Design, Estimation Procedures, 

and Variance Estimation,” Vital and Health Statistics, Series 2, No. 76, January 1978. A similar 

report is in preparation for Cycle II. 

In Cycle II of the NSFG, missing data items 

were not imputed, and percent distributions are 

based on cases with known data. 

The NSFG estimates of numbers of ever 

married women 15-19 years of age, ever married 

women 15-19 years of age who had ever had a 

live birth, and never married (single) women 

15-19 years of age living with their own 

offspring are in close a~eement with estimates 

from other sources. In “Fertility of American 

Women: June 1976 ‘{ (Current Population 

Reports, Series P-20, No. 308, June 1977, table 

43), the U.S. Bureau of the Census estimated a 

total of 1,125,000 ever married women 15-19 

years 

mated 

of 

to have 

age, and 

had at 

of 

least 

these, 

one 

505,000 

child. Researchers 

were esti-�

at The Johns Hopkins University have provided 

an estimate of 311,000 never married (single) 

women 15-19 years of age living with their own 

offspring. This unpublished estimate is based on 

a 1976 sample survey of women 15-19 years of 

age in the noninstitutional population of the 

conterminous United States. None of these estimat ed numbers is significantly different from 

the NSFG estimate. 

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS 

Demographic Terms 

Age. –In this report, “teenager” refers to a 

woman 15-19 years of age at the date of interview. 

Marital status. –Persons are classified by 

marital status as married, widowed, divorced, 

separated, or never married. Married, widowed, 

divorced, and separated women are referred to 

as “ever married. ” For convenience, ever married women 15-19 years of age are &o referred 

to as “teenage wives” since all but 7 percent of o sampled ever married teenage women (19 cases) 
0 aduamedata 11 

were currently married at the survey date. women who were both working and attending 

Never married women with offspring living in school, or working and keeping house, were clasthe household were included in the sample and sified as working. 

classified separately in table 4. 

Poverty level. –The poverty index ratio was Current Contraceptive Status 

calculated by dividing the total family income Sterile. –A woman (or couple) was classified 

by the weighted average threshold income of as sterile if she reported that it was impossible 

nonfarm families with the head under 65 years for her to have a baby. Most of the women (or 

of age based on the poverty levels shown in U.S. couples) classified as sterile have had sterilizing 

Bureau of the Census, Current Population operations (see Advance Data No. 36). 

Reports, Series P-60, No. 106, “Money Income Seeking pregnancy .-A currentIy married 

in 1975 of Families and Persons in the United woman was classified as seeking pregnancy if she 

States,” table A-3. Poverty Ievel was not ascer- reported that she was not using a contraceptive 

tained for 35 percent of sampled teenage mothers method at the time of interview because she 

or for 18 percent of sampled teenage wives. wanted to become pregnant. Never married 

Because missing data on income may be non- mothers and widowed, divorced, and separated 

randomly distributed with respect to other vari- women were not asked if they were trying to 

ables, small differences by poverty level income become pregnant. 

should be interpreted with great caution. Post partum. –A woman (or couple) was 

“Below poverty level income” refers to a total classified as post partum if she reported that she 

family income that is less than the poverty was not currently using a contraceptive method, 

threshold, while “poverty Ievel income and that she was not seeking pregnancy, and that her 

above” refers to a total family income that last pregnancy had terminated within 2 months 

equals or exceeds that threshold. before the date she was interviewed. 

Receipt of Aid to Families With Dependent Other nonusers. –W’omen (or couples) who 

Children. –Respondents were asked, “Did you or reported that they were currently using no con-€

any members of your family living here receive traceptive method and were not sterile, pregnant,€

income in the past 12 months from . . . welfare post partum, or seeking pregnancy were clas-€

payments for aid to your dependent children?” sified here.€

Respondents who replied “yes” were classified Method users. –A woman (or couple) who€

as having received AFDC. reported use of a contraceptive method other€

Labor force status. –Respondents were asked than a surgical sterilization at the date of inter-

“Last week were you working full-time, part- view ~vas classified according to the specific 

time, going to school, keeping house, or what?” method used. For a detailed classification of 

“In the labor force” includes those working full- currently married women by specific contraceper part-time; those with a job but not at work ti17emethods, see Advance Data No. 36. 

because of temporary ihess, vacation, strike, or 

maternity leave; and those unemployed, laid off, Related Data or Iooking for work. “Not in labor force” 

includes those in school, those keeping house, More extensive definitions of terms can be 

and those engaged in other activities not in the found in previous reports based on Cycle II of 

labor force. This classification gives priority to the NSFG–for example, see Advance Data Nos. 

working over other activities. For exampIe, 36,43,45,55, and 56. 
12 admncedata


o


. Recent Issues of Advance Data 

No. 60.1978 Summary: National Ambulatory Medical 

Care Survey (Issued: April 23, 1980) 

No. 59. Trends in Breast Feeding: United States, 

1973-75 (Issued: March 28, 1980) 

No. 58.	 Remarriages of Women 15-44 Years of Age 

Whose First Marriage Ended in DNorce: 

~;}it~ States, 1976 (Issued: Febn-uny 14, 

From Vital and Health Statistics 

No. 57.	 Office Visits for Diabetes Mellitus, National 

Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: United 

States, 1977 (Issued: January 25, 1980) 

No. 56.	 Wanted and Unwanted Buths Reported by 

Mothers 15-44 Years of Age: United States, 

1976 (Issued: January 24, 1980) 

A complete list of Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics is available from the Scientific and Technical 

Information Branch. 

NCHS


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