Variations in fertility by marital status and marriage order

Analysis of data from the June 1985 Current Population Survey reveals that although marriage continues to be an important setting for childbearing, the strength of this relationship varies considerably by the mother's race, education and age at first birth. The largest proportion of white births occurs during first marriages, with the next largest group made up of premarital births; that pattern is reversed for black births. The proportion of births occurring during second marriages is twice as high among whites as among blacks; however, intermarital childbearing is more common among blacks than among whites. For both races, the number and proportion of all births that occurred in second marriages increased between 1973-1974 and 1983-1984; in the latter period, women who were in their second marriage had about 300,000 births a year. About half of all nonmarital births in 1983-1984--370,000 births a year--were of birth order two or higher.