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VIII. Out-of-Wedlock Births
Out-of-Wedlock Births in TANF Families
Out-of-Wedlock Births Among the General Population
Appendix
An additional statutory purpose of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is to prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies.
Out-of-Wedlock Births in TANF Families
The TANF statute (Section 413(e) of the Social Security Act ) requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to rank States based on a ratio of the total number of out-of-wedlock births in TANF families to the total number of births in TANF families, and also to show the net changes in the ratios between the current year and the previous year. See Appendix Table 8:1 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 data and net changes between FY 2005 and FY 2006.
Out-of-Wedlock Births Among the General Population
NCHS at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in HHS is responsible for collecting and analyzing vital statistics data. Based on the final numbers of births for 2005, NCHS data show that the birth rate for unmarried women aged 15-44 years increased in 2005 to 47.5 births per 1,000 women, up 3 percent compared with 46.1 in 2004. The 2005 birth rate has surpassed the level of its previous peak in 1994 of 46.2, and preliminary data for 2006 indicate that it will show a further increase. The proportion of all births that were out-of-wedlock rose to 36.9 percent in 2005, compared with 35.8 in 2004. Preliminary data for 2006 indicate that the proportion of out-of-wedlock births will reach about 38.5 percent. Since 1996, the proportion has increased 4.5 percentage points from 32.4 to 36.9 in 2005 (Appendix Tables 8:2 through 8:4). After several decades of sharp increases, non-marital childbearing increased much more slowly during the second half of the 1990s and through 2003. The last three years, however, have seen rates rise sharply again.
