Louisiana tops the nation in out-of-wedlock births, with more than half of children in the state born to unmarried parents. That statistic mirrors a study that found that the number of children born to unmarried parents has skyrocketed over the last 30 years.
A 2024 study conducted by sociologists from Canadian and American universities show that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed over the last 35 years. According to the researchers’ findings, the number of out-of-wedlock births in rural communities in the United States jumped from 10 percent in 1995 to 55 percent in 2022. In urban areas, the rate increased from 20 percent to 45 percent. The study also found that the number of people getting married has steadily decreased since 1995 while the number of people who are cohabitating has steadily increased.
According to the latest data available published by the CDC, which dates back to 2022, 54.7 percent of children born in Louisiana are born out of wedlock. That figure is four-tenths of a percent higher than the second-place state, Mississippi.