Key Statistics from the National Survey of Family Growth

 

B Listing

• Birth control - See Contraception
• Births (mothers)
  • Marital or cohabiting status of mother at time of birth
  • Number of children ever born (parity)
  • Premarital/nonmarital status of births
  • Attitudes about childbearing - See Attitudes:  Parenthood and childbearing

• Births (fathers)

  • Age at first birth fathered
  • Marital or cohabiting status of father at time of birth
  • Number of biological children ever fathered
  • Attitudes about childbearing - See Attitudes: Parenthood and childbearing
• Birth expectations
• Breast-feeding
  • Initiation of breast-feeding
  • Duration of breast-feeding

 

Births (mothers)

 

Marital or cohabiting status of mother at time of birth

• Percent distribution by marital or cohabiting status of women 15-44 years of age in 2002 when their first child was born:
  • Married when first child was born: 62.3%
  • Cohabiting: 12.4%
  • Unmarried and not cohabiting: 25.3%

  Source: Series 23, No. 25, Table 16 [PDF - 4.7 MB]

   

• Percent distribution by marital or cohabiting status at birth for births in the last 5 years to women 15-44 years of age in 2002:
  • Married when child was born: 64.4%
  • Cohabiting when child was born: 14.3%
  • Unmarried and not cohabiting: 21.3%

  Source: Series 23, No. 25, Table 18 [PDF - 4.7 MB]

 

Number of children ever born (parity)

• Percent distribution of women 40-44 years of age in 2002 by number of children ever born:
  • No children: 15.0%
  • One child: 18.0%
  • Two children: 31.6%
  • Three children: 20.7%
  • Four or more children: 14.8%

  Source: Series 23, No. 25, Table 2 [PDF - 4.7 MB]

 

Premarital/nonmarital status of births

• Percent of mothers (women 15-44 in 2002 who had ever had a birth) who had a nonmarital birth: 42.2%
  Source: Series 23, No. 25, Table 17 [PDF - 4.7 MB]

 

Births (fathers)

 

Age at first birth fathered

• Mean age at the birth of  their first biological child of men 15-44 years of age in 2002 who ever fathered a biological child: 25.1 years

  Source: Series 23, No 26, Table 5 [PDF - 3.5 MB]

 

Marital or cohabiting status of father at time of birth

• Marital or cohabiting status of father when his first child was born of men 15-44 years of age in 2002 who had ever fathered a child):
  • Currently or formerly married to child's mother: 66.2%
  • Cohabiting: 18.2%
  • Unmarried and not cohabiting: 15.6%

  Source: Series 23, No. 26, Table 7 [PDF - 3.5 MB]

 

Number of biological children ever fathered

• Percent distribution of men 40-44 years of age in 2002 by number of children ever fathered:
  • No children: 22.4%
  • One child: 19.9%
  • Two children: 25.0%
  • Three or more children: 32.7%

  Source: Series 23, No. 26, Table 4 [PDF - 3.5 MB]

 

Birth expectations

• Average number of births expected by women 15-44 years of age, in 2002: 2.27

  Source: Series 23, No.25, Table 5 [PDF - 4.7 MB]

   
• Percent distribution of women 15-44 years of age in 2002 by expected number of births in their lifetimes:
  • Percent of women  who expect no births in their lifetimes: 8.7
  • Percent who expect one birth: 13.3%
  • Percent who expect 2 births: 42.2%.
  • Percent who expect 3 or more births: 35.8%

  Source: Series 23, No. 25, Table 7 [PDF - 4.7 MB]

• Average number of children expected by men 15-44 years of age in 2002: 2.2

  Source: Series 23, No. 26, Table 12 [PDF - 3.5 MB]

 

Breast-feeding

 

Initiation of breast-feeding

• Percent of singleton babies born in 1997-2000 who were breast-fed at all: 66.8%

  Source: Series 23, No. 25, Table 78 [PDF - 4.7 MB]

 

Duration of breast-feeding

• Percent of singleton babies born 1997-2000 who were breast-fed 3 months or more: 48.0%.
• Percent of singleton babies born 1997-2000 who were breast-fed 6 months or more: 34.9%.

• Percent of singleton babies born 1997-2000 who were breast-fed 1 year or more: 17.3%.

  Source: Series 23, No. 25, Table 78 [PDF - 4.7 MB]