More Women in U.S. Having Children, But Latino Family Size Still Dropping - Pew

Childlessness is so passé. There have been increases in large families among highly educated women. Yet, there has been a decrease in the number of large families within the Latino population.

A newly published Pew Research Center report has documented the decline in childlessness in the U.S., increases in big families and the notable drop in large families within the U.S. Hispanic population. Additionally, the same report suggested that motherhood is the postgraduate agenda for more and more highly educated women, as the number of educated women to remain childless into their mid-40s has plummeted within the past two decades.

Since the 1980s, only 10 percent of Hispanic women ages 40-44 don't have children, compared to Asian women (13 percent), black women (15 percent) and white women (17 percent). Hispanic mothers aged 40-44 have the most children, averaging 2.6 children. Also, 20 percent of Hispanic mothers in that age bracket have four or more children, which is higher than black mothers (18 percent), white mothers (11 percent) and Asian mothers (10 percent).

Nonetheless, there has been a dramatic decline in the share of mothers of all backgrounds with four or more children since 1988. That decline was most notable among Hispanics. From 1988 to 2014, the number of Hispanic mothers with four or more children dropped from 31 percent to 20 percent. During the same time span, the number of Hispanic mothers with three children increased by 8 percent.

The report, titled "Childlessness Falls, Family Size Grows Among Highly Educated Women," also featured fertility trends among highly educated women. Twenty-two percent of women ages 40-44 with at least a master's degree remain childless, declining from 30 percent since 1994. On average, 60 percent of women with at least a master's degree have two or more children, increasing from 51 percent in 1994.

Fertility patterns differ significantly by race and ethnicity. Also, the educational "gaps" in childlessness and in family size have narrowed in the past two decades, but they do persist. The more education a woman believes, the less likely she is to become a mother.

Among mothers, those with more education have fewer children than those with less education, despite recent changes. Thirteen percent of mothers without a high school diploma have one child, while 26 percent have four or more children. Among mothers with a master's degree or more, 23 percent have only 3 children and just 8 percent have four or more.