Posted: 8/8/03
Half of Americans approve
of unmarried women giving birth
WASHINGTON (RNS)–Half of Americans now believe it is morally acceptable to have a baby outside of marriage, a Gallup Poll shows.
Pollsters found 51 percent of U.S. adults polled in May said out-of-wedlock births were morally acceptable, compared to 46 percent who said they were morally wrong. One year ago, slightly fewer (45 percent) thought such births were acceptable, while 50 percent thought they were wrong.
Views on the subject varied greatly depending on respondents' church-attending habits.
While 26 percent of respondents who attend church weekly said out-of-wedlock births were morally acceptable, 71 percent who seldom or never attend church agreed with that statement.
Married Americans are less likely than unmarried Americans to say such births are acceptable, 45 percent to 58 percent respectively.
While 64 percent of respondents ages 18 to 29 think out-of-wedlock births are morally acceptable, lower percentages of older age groups voice approval. For example, 53 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds, 51 percent of those ages 50 to 64 and 33 percent of those 65 and older said having a baby outside of marriage is acceptable.
The findings are based on telephone interviews with 1,005 adults nationwide and have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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