MATERNAL AGE
The overall birth rate declined slightly by less
than one percent in 2001. Birth rates for teenagers
ages 15-19 declined 26 percent since 1991, reaching
a record low. The birth rate among women in their
twenties was basically unchanged since 2000; however,
the small increase in the 2001 birth rate to women
in their thirties and forties resulted in the highest
rate for this age group in over 30 years.
Among 2001 births, 11 percent were to women under
19 years of age, over half were to women in their
twenties, one-third were to women in their thirties,
and the remaining two percent were to women in their
forties and early fifties.
Among both black and white women, half of births
in 2001 were to women in their twenties. However,
a substantially higher proportion of white births
were to women in their thirties and forties while
the percentage of births to teens was twice as high
among blacks as among whites.
 [d]
[d]
|
