By: Matt Rosenberg
It bears emphasis because the topic is fraught. Social scientists report that births to unmarried mothers heighten risks of poor educational, behavioral, and employment outcomes, especially for young black males in poor neighborhoods. Children born to unmarried mothers end up with less schooling, lower earnings and job status. Their marriages are rockier, and they get divorced and fall prey to depression more often. Daughters of unmarried mothers are more likely to renew the cycle of unmarried birth than girls born to married mothers. It’s something with which Illinois must come to grips.
Nationally and in Illinois, the rate of births to unmarried mothers varies widely by race. In 2020, 79 percent of all Illinois black births were out of wedlock. That’s nearly 10 percent higher than nationally. Of all Latino births in Illinois in 2020, 53 percent were to unmarried mothers versus 27 percent of white births and 8 percent of Asian births. Latinos and whites tracked closely with national averages; Asians are not included in national data on unmarried births.
Some Illinois cities really stand out. And not in a good way. Wirepoints found that six towns other than Chicago were outliers compared to the state’s average of 79 percent of black births to unmarried mothers.
We requested and received from the Illinois Department of Public Health vital statistics data on births to unmarried mothers by race for the 20 largest cities in the state. Some key takeaways we found include:
- In Peoria, 677 black babies were born and 611, or more than 90 percent, were to unmarried mothers in 2020.
- In Decatur, 425 black babies were born and 382, or 90 percent, were to unmarried mothers. Springfield and Rockford had similar results.
- In Chicago 82 percent of the 9,081 total black births in 2020 were to unmarried mothers. That’s a contributor to Chicago’s burgeoning violent crime, property crime, and public disorder. In Chicago shooting incidents, murder, motor vehicle theft and carjacking were sharply up in 2021 versus 2019. And police reports show that 80 percent of murder victims and 70 percent of known murder perps are black.
And it’s not just black issue. The unwed birth rate for Hispanics in Waukegan, Cicero and Aurora were 64, 59 and 57 percent, respectively, while the rate for whites was 54 percent in Decatur and 50 percent in Rockford.
We provide the detailed birth data for Illinois’ 20 most populous cities in the appendix below.
None of this just happened out of the blue. The erosion of the two-parent family has unfolded steadily for 70 years at the statewide and national level.
In Illinois, births to unmarried mothers were less than 4 percent of the total in 1950 but climbed to 40 percent by 2020. Similarly, in 1940, only four percent of all births in the United States were to unmarried mothers. By 2020, it was 40 percent. The largest uptick came after 1970.
The data has also changed starkly for black children in the United States. In 1969 only 35 percent of black births were to unmarried mothers. By 2020, the percentage was 70 percent.
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At the same time that fewer and fewer children are born to two married parents, too many Illinois cities continue to struggle with violent crime and property crime, as well as stunningly low academic achievement, something Wirepoints will be revealing soon.
Violent crime is rising in other Illinois cities with high rates of black births to unmarried mothers, besides Chicago – cities such as Rockford and Decatur and Aurora and Peoria.
Here’s the real upshot: If fathers don’t step up right from the start by being married to their childrens’ mothers, living at home, and taking an active everyday role in child-rearing, we can expect more of the same.
In all of this, the biological parents, and the parents who raised them, are implicated as much as the government.
An honest embrace of the major role of family structure is long overdue.
COMING NEXT: We’ll continue the discussion on the black family – with perspectives from Chicago’s South Side, Chicago City Hall, and the White House.
APPENDIX
All data taken from the following: Vital Statistics data from Illinois Department of Public Health provided through special request. Annual National Vital Statistics Reports (NVSRs), from National Center For Health Statistics, Centers For Disease Control, for 2020 ,2019, 2018, and 2000* (p.9 in 2000 report has historic data set incl. 2000, ‘95, ‘90, ‘85, ‘80)
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
I have read the article. Thanks for that, Matt. It’s enlightening, but sad. I say this in all seriousness— does religion/morality have nothing to do with the decision to marry, have sexual relations for anyone anymore? I know there there have been births out of wedlock since the beginning of time, but would a reinvigoration of the old JudeoChristian idea/ ideals of marriage help at all ?? Yes, I’m naive but I really don’t see any hope otherwise. It’s just so very sad.
Some of these aberrations are painful. Decatur’s population is only 23% Black, but 52% of all unmarried births in Decatur are Black and only one out of every 10 Black births are to married couples. What the hell is going on down there?
Marriage is whiteness.
EmbraceGrace.com is a ministry geared to giving hope and acceptance to unmarried mothers and reminding them of their worth in the eyes of their creator.
Why not use birth control? Many organizations supply it free. It will stop pregnancy, there’ll be no need for abortion, the heartache and expense, no need to figure out how to raise an unwanted child for 18 years. Millions of men and women use birth control why don’t these people? The answer, they’re getting into the “family business”, 13 year old gets pregnant, her 25 year old mother is pregnant and her 38 year old grandmother is pregnant. None of them have a job, can’t support themselves and their children. They’re all “married to the government” and the government pays… Read more »
Marie, you’re missing the point, the leftist doesn’t want this to stop. This is how they want all family structures to be: it’s a matriarchy now, and the patriarchy is dead, and the government is there to help mothers and penalize fathers every step of the way. And the people participating in this lifestyle want to particpate in this lifestyle. They know birth control is available they just want to have children. However, the situation you described above is not the norm. The norm is more like this: non-college educated young couple dating in their early 20’s, usually with low… Read more »
Your comment for some reason got thrown earlier into the “hold for moderation” bag. Commenters should know that sometimes that happens for no apparent reason. Software filters out spam and certain language, but sometimes does strange things. We then make the comments go live when we see them being held if they are OK.
I get the point. My point is the rest of us want this to stop and we have to do something to make it stop. This is not how we want all family structures to be. If that happens we will all be poor. There will be no more middle class just a lower class and upper class. I’m not going quietly into that awful night.
This is not how we want all family structures to be. **They’ll just call you racist for criticizing the lifestyle choices of BIPOC. If that happens we will all be poor. **Before too long, people like you, with your old time values, will the minority. Then, the majority of citizens, most of whom were born poor and out of wedlock themselves, will vote to take away all of your money. I’m not going quietly into that awful night. That won’t do you any good either. Complaining is just saying “I have money, please don’t take it from me.” The future… Read more »
Wow what a pessimist.
I’m not a pessimist, I’m a realist. The emperor Justin was a pagan in a Christian world. He tried revive within the empire the 1,000 year old pagan ways of his ancestors. He’d show up at dilapidated pagan temples with only a handful of elderly adherents. The younger people knew nothing of the Roman gods of the Republic. He died and paganism, over 1000 years old, ceased to be an active religion. This isn’t much different than the world today. My local catholic church, one of the healthier ones too, has a handful of families, but mass is mostly older… Read more »
sorry,Julian, not justin
Debtsor, well I guess we’re all doomed. Nothing we can do. None of us can make a difference. Just suck it up, lay down and die. You go first. I’m out.
LOL! I’m not a religious guy but the early Christians, especially the martyrs provide some guidance. The early Christians were a tiny minority of pious religious people that lived in a majority Pagan country. They rejected all of the pagan values of the dominant majority culture. It was a tough way to live – they didn’t celebrate the same holidays, pray to the same gods, enjoy the same customs or cultures….but in time, they came to dominate the world. In 10 or 20 years, you and I will live in a world where we are the minority, and everyone will… Read more »
As a First Responder in Chgo. projects, It’s hard to convey the amount of times we were called for pregnant teens as young as 13, only to be told during the evaluation, it was not the first pregnancy. Many times the under 30 mom was present, and pregnant. Sometimes, the 45 year old grandma was also with child. No adult Males around, but many children.
“If fathers don’t step up right from the start by being married to their childrens’ mothers, living at home, and taking an active everyday role in child-rearing…” Underlying this assumption is that it is the fathers who aren’t stepping up. Often, it’s the mothers themselves who don’t want the fathers around in their childrens’ lives. There’s a biological urge these women have to procreate and they fulfill it. The mothers take the child support and then let the men shirk away from their responsibilities. Often times, the mother is so into the baby-mamma drama the father figures it is just… Read more »
You, sir, need to get your hotel out of your Alfa. There is absolutely no excuse for ANY parent, absence serious illness, to not pitch in and contribute to raising a life they brought into the world. It is pure nonsense to let anyone skate because of “drama”, or the labor market. A true conservative would say they should get a second job, or get technical training to make some more money. Bootstraps, sacrifice, that’s what a man does to help his family. How about using birth control, getting snipped, or just not doing that specific act with someone you… Read more »
Rob M, I’m on the same page of you. I 100% agree with you. I too have old school traditional values. But these single moms and dads pumping out children don’t live in a world where men share these values. They have the moral values I just described above. I’m merely trying to understand myself why these values took hold. People’s values change as their circumstances change. And mothers these days are far less likely to hold their fathers responsible for their children, and many times, don’t want the father involved. Child support court on any floor in any courthouse… Read more »
do you really think any of these gun toting,crack dealing,gang banging shitballs pay child support!?-come on man!!-get real
I have several out of wedlock children with several women myself so I’m an expert at this. Long story short, it works like this: Baby Momma gets pregnant, immediately applies for benefits. Baby momma required by federal (and state) law to turn in the baby daddy aka give the name of the father to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. DHS (or local state’s attorney, or IL AG’s office downstate) then spends resources to track down baby daddy, serve him with paperwork, give him the chance for a DNA test, and makes him the baby daddy, enters child support… Read more »
And do we believe that gangbangers marrying their baby mamas will fix the problem?
I’m old enough to remember when people claimed it as a badge of honor that they didn’t need a piece of paper to validate their commitment. Silly, but it does contain a grain of truth that applies here. A marriage license will not transform selfish, immature, irresponsible people into good parents.
“A marriage license will not transform selfish, immature, irresponsible people into good parents.” Our culture does not incentivize good parenting or even getting married. Feminism has glorified single parenthood as the preferred way to raise children and shames women who want to marry and move to the suburbs as contributing to the patriarchy. Men on the flip side are incentives to smoke cannabis, work at amazon and play video games. This is the inevitable, completely foreseeable result of three generations of leftist ideology. We are all now completely free: to date who you want, smoke what you want, change your… Read more »
Agree 100%. It’s of course the underlying pathologies, for several generations, that are causing the problems.
Leftist thinking will probably conclude that they need a new program to issue marriage certificates in underserved communities. Just like they now pass out diplomas and degrees to anyone, since it is well known that having those diplomas and degrees are the key to success.
What a bunch of horse hockey. Did you have a bad divorce or did you and your wife or girlfriend break up, are you paying child support, not seeing your kids, hate your ex, are you mad at the system? Guess somebody didn’t use birth control.
I’m just kidding, I don’t have several children out of wedlock! I just said that because it sounds so ridiculous, but it’s really like that in some communities, where men have multiple of out wedlock children with multiple woman…. LOL I have a non-personal familiarity with the child support system for various reasons. I’ve never been personally involved in the system, but due to some short term employment years ago, I learned WAY more about how child support and out-of-wedlock births really work than I ever cared to know. Its a messed up world and There are A LOT of… Read more »
But then I get a free round-trip to NYC to appear on Maury and take a paternity test.
“You are NOT the father!” Man starts dancing, mom runs backstage crying.
“You ARE the father!” Dad eats crow, mom shouts, “you gonna pay!”
Some of these guests appeared multiple times on the show. Sometimes the baby momma is the same and they’re wondering if baby #2 is someone else’s.
Hahah LOL There was a downstate local news article out there, I can’t find it anymore. The article is about a decade old now. Anyway, so about a decade ago, some baby momma in Chicago turned in her baby daddy into DHFS so she could get the medical card and EBT food stamps. Except this baby momma only knew the name of her child’s father. Not where he lived or where he worked. Just his first and last name. And it was common first and last name too. So the state of IL sent out letters to dozens to every… Read more »
Sad to say that happened to me when some deadbeat with the same name as mine went missing and his “baby momma” wanted more child support and goodies. My wife got served a summons for me. Luckily since she’s an attorney she contacted the office issuing the summons and proved that I was not the same age or race as the wanted individual via sending in a copy of my driver’s license.
If this continues, there’s going to be a thriving market for social service workers and academics manipulating the statistics. It doesn’t help the kids. but that’s the least of the problem because all of these “helpful professions” really don’t know what to do or what can be truly effective. In the recent school-related murders at Oxford, MI and in Buffalo, each school knew, or were informed, that the white male kid in question was “troubled” but neither system took action or apparently felt that it could intervene between the kid and his parents. Such intervention probably isn’t legally sanctioned, leaving… Read more »
The lack of public discussion is probably due to a lack of answers.
There’s lots of answers no one wants to hear them. So the status quo remains.
What percent of the unwed mothers remain unwed after a given period of time,say 3 years? Also, what non-government support systems are available to each ethnic category? Popular culture plays a roll in these pregnancies but there comes a time when family and culture accept responsibility or dump it on Uncle Sam!
Stop paying them and supporting them when they become baby factories and they will stop having kids out of marriage.
Great topic!
Nothing much new to me here, though – sadly. I was a Sociology major in college, after the Army, in the late 70’s. Much had been written and studied about the decline of the two-parent household at different rates, correlated with demographics and outcomes, even way back then.
Then, as now, however, not a big public-discussion topic.
Not politically correct. Racist. Homophobic – etc, etc.
I look forward to reading more of the series.
What can’t be ignored is what the data also revealed – that 54% of births to whites in Decatur were to unmarried mothers. And 50% in Rockford. And 44% in Springfield – our state capital. It’s not just a race issue or a Chicago issue.
It may be an issue of low IQ. of the mothers.
Were they educated in the Illinois public school system?
Ted, The SJW’s love that whitey is going down the toilet too. We can’t just blame this on the blacks and Hispanics. The whole culture is going to pot. What, then, can government do to incentivize families that stay together? what can we do to limit out of wedlock births? If you don’t want abortions, and you don’t want welfare, and don’t want birth control, where do we go? What are some solutions? Forgive me Ted, but are there really people who are unaware of this problem. Maybe just as many who don’t realize what a financial pickle that state… Read more »
“What, then, can government do to incentivize families that stay together? what can we do to limit out of wedlock births?” Keep families together? Limit out of wedlock births? This is heresy! The SJW doesn’t want government to do any of this! They don’t see any of this being a problem, and many see this as a sign of progress. It’s difficult to realize that the communist hates family and hates babies and hates men. They intend to reorder everything, and completely overturn thousands of years of family structure, to satisfy their awful ideology. A woman needs a man like… Read more »
Maybe government involvement in something people have managed to do on their own for centuries caused the problem in the first place?
Matt, I am guessing that age is also of concern with unmarried mothers. How many of these unmarried mothers are teenagers? Children raising children is a disaster. In many instances, grandmothers step in to raise the children. But how many of those grandmothers were also unmarried teenage mothers, and so themselves have little understanding of raising children? We may be at the point where no one in these communities has what it takes to raise a child.
Heyjude, see p. 5 in this National Vital Statistics Report: it turns out that the age groups where births to single mothers are most prevalent cover 25 to 34. The 15-19s as a share of single mothers have been dropping lower and lower. This goes along with an ongoing national decline in teen motherhood overall.
Thanks for that info. Maybe a bit of good news in that the share of teen unmarried mothers is dropping. But then, that assumes a level of maturity in the older group that may be unwarranted.
I can’t find the link now, but there’s a chart out there somewhere, showing that lower income women have children younger, and higher income women have children older, and if you superimpose a graph of age of first childbirth between these two income groups, it is two separate and distinct waves. underlying this is that younger mothers tend to be single and poor and older mothers tend to be not poor and married. I know at my kid’s elementary school, most moms at pickup time are in their late 30’s or early 40’s; but I can only imagine my elementary… Read more »