'Baby boomlet' reverses decline in number of births

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Women in their 20s helped fuel a baby boomlet that pushed U.S. births up 2 percent in 1998, the first increase in<br>several years, said a government report released Tuesday.<br><br>The

Tuesday, March 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Women in their 20s helped fuel a baby boomlet that pushed U.S. births up 2 percent in 1998, the first increase in
several years, said a government report released Tuesday.

The increase reflected growth in the number of women entering childbearing years. These daughters of early baby boomers are having their own kids, but getting married first is a not
necessarily a perquisite to becoming a parent, the report shows.

Births to unwed mothers, on the rise for years, hit an all-time high in 1998 and accounted for nearly half of all babies born that year, reported the National Center for Health Statistics. But unlike the early 1990s, when teenagers were having children at alarming rates, today's unwed mothers are more likely to be in their 20s and 30s.

Researchers attribute the change to a big drop in teen births, confidence in the booming economy and more relaxed attitudes about
unwed mothers.

"The social disapproval factor has definitely lessened," said Stephanie Ventura, lead author of the report compiled from state
birth data.

There were 3.94 million births in 1998, compared to 3.88 million children born in 1997. The fertility rate, a measure of births
among women of child bearing age, was 65.6 births for every 1,000 females, up from 65 births per 1,000.

These were the first increases in births and fertility rates since 1990, when 4.1 million children were born and the fertility rate was 70.9 births per 1,000 women. Between 1990 and 1997, the number of births fell 7 percent as women waited longer to have children and teen births declined amid the availability of more reliable contraceptives, an emphasis on abstinence and fears about AIDS.

Some 1.29 million babies were born to single women in 1998, up 3 percent from the prior year and the highest number reported since
the government started collecting birth data in the early 1900s.

One reason for the rise was a larger population of unmarried women of child bearing age. The number of single women between 15 and 44 rose to 29.2 million women in 1998 from 28.6 million in 1997.

Unwed women in their 20s and 30s had higher birth rates, and that was true for both white and black women. Birth rates for unwed
Hispanic women in that age group fell, the report showed.

Birth rates for all women in the 20s and 30s was also on the rise. After falling during the 1990s, the birth rate for women between 20 and 24 -- the principal childbearing ages -- rose 1 percent to 111.2 births per 1,000. The rate for women aged 30 to 34 rose 2 percent to 87.4 births per 1,000 women -- the highest rate
since 1965.

Jacqueline Darroch, senior vice president for research at Alan Guttmacher Institute, a private research group, said the rise in
unmarried moms doesn't necessarily mean that children don't have fathers because many women are living with, but not marrying, their
partners.

"Nonmarried does not necessarily mean that it's the mother alone without a father," said Darroch, citing a government study that showed about 4 percent of women, or about 2.6 million, living with partners.

Donna Shalala, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the trend was cause for concern.

"The increase in births to unmarried mothers, as well as the increase in teen mothers who smoke, are troubling," said Shalala.

Other findings:
-- Smoking among pregnant teens increased, especially among
blacks.
-- The proportion of women beginning prenatal care in the first
trimester continued to rise -- an encouraging sign because early
care can increase the chances of having a healthy baby.
-- Multiple births continued to increase, a phenomenon tied to
the use of fertility drugs and more older women giving birth.
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On the Net:
The report can be found on the National Center for Health
Statistics Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/