title: Thinking about change in illegitimacy ratios: United States, 1963-1983.
abstract: What has been the recent trend in illegitimacy in the United States? The answer depends on what is being measured. If the focus is on illegitimacy rates, then the trend is mixed. Illegitimacy ratios, however, have been skyrocketing. We show that this is primarily the result of declining nuptiality (and rising marital dissolution) and secondarily the result of decreases in marital fertility. We argue that the illegitimacy ratio is the better index of the social consequences of out-of-wedlock childbearing and that the high ratios of recent decades are unlikely to abate in the foreseeable future.
authors.affiliation: Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104-6298.
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cutright
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D007086:Illegitimacy; D009309:National Center for Health Statistics, U.S.; D010290:Parents; D012847:Single Person; D014481:United States; D044465:White People