Data Indicates Welfare Mothers Have Babies Earlier, More Often

Mothers who receive welfare aid have babies earlier than other women and have more of them, a new Census Bureau profile shows.

While Congress debates welfare reform, including seeking ways to reduce out-of-wedlock births, the new report shows that nearly half of mothers receiving Aid to Families With Dependent Children have never married.

The Census Statistical Brief compiles data from the bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation for 1993.

The report was issued in response to requests from members of Congress and the media, statistician Amara Bachu said.

The brief report found:

* Mothers receiving AFDC were 20.3 years old when they had their first child, compared to a median age of 22.9 years for mothers not receiving aid in 1993.

* The mothers on welfare had 2,586 children per 1,000 mothers, compared to 2,213 children per 1,000 mothers not on AFDC.

* Some 48% of mothers receiving AFDC have never married, 23% are widowed or divorced, 17% are married but not living with their husband and 13% are married with their husband present. For non-welfare mothers, the figures are 8% who have never married, 12% widowed or divorced, 5% married with a husband absent and 74% married and living with a husband.

* More mothers receiving AFDC were white, 2.1 million, than black, 1.5 million. But those receiving AFDC represented about 25% of black mothers and 7% of white mothers.

* Black and white mothers on welfare had 2,694 and 2,536 children per 1,000 mothers, respectively.

* Of the 3.8 million mothers receiving AFDC, 44% had less than a high school education, 38% had completed high school and 19% had attended some college.