Population characteristics

MATERNAL AGE

The general fertility rate rose to 66.1 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 years in 2003. The birth rate among mothers ages 35 to 44 years continued to increase; rates for women in their mid twenties to early thirties also increased, but to a lesser extent. The birth rates among teenagers and women in their early twenties declined. The rate among 15- to 17-year-olds was 42 percent lower than a recent peak in 1991, and the rate among 18- and 19-year-olds declined 25 percent during the same period.

In 2003, 10 percent of births were to women under 20, over half were to women in their twenties, just over one third were to women in their thirties, and almost 3 percent were to women in their forties and early fifties. The average age at first birth in 2003 was 25.2 years, the highest yet recorded. The average age at first birth has risen from 21.4 years in 1970.

Among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic women, over half of births in 2003 were to women in their twenties. Among non-Hispanic White women, a smaller proportion of births were to women in that age group (49.5 percent). The proportion of births that were to women under 20 years of age was higher among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic women (17.4 and 14.3 percent, respectively) than non-Hispanic White women (7.5 percent). Births to non-Hispanic White women were more likely to be to women in their thirties, forties, and early fifties.

> Pie Charts: Distribution of Births, by Maternal Age and Race/Ethnicity: 2003