Lack of Marriage is Causing a Decline in Women's Fertility

The world is changing since the time of our parents. People don't get married like they once did and chose to stay single much longer. Both men and woman are able to choose the path that they feel is most appropriate to them. However, all of this freedom is having a physical affect on the ability of woman to have children. It might sound amazing but woman can't have children as long in life as they did in the past.

Have you ever wondered why in years gone bye women could have 12 kids and still look healthy? They could do this because they got married young and continued to have children throughout their lives. Since today's woman have chosen to put off marriage until they have had their fun their bodies quickly learn that child rearing is not in the cards for them and their bodies adapt. They become less fertile.

You might believe those women are certainly having sex the same or more than women in the past. After all we have gone through the sexual revolution and can do what we want. Lots of people have chosen to cohabitate instead of getting married. The birth rates of cohabitating unions are lower than that of marriages (Manning, 2001). The same research says that the birth rates of non-cohabitating woman is even lower than cohabitating ones.

When it comes to fertility there appears to be a hierarchy. The most fertile women are married, followed by cohabitation and then non-cohabitation. The very act of being in a married relationship increases fertility among woman. Since most women are not getting married they also are losing their fertility.

During the baby boomer generation women were expected to marry at a young age and start having children right away. Amazingly, during this time the fertility rates of women also increased with the birth rates (Hayford, 2005). Woman had more children then they do today and their bodies were more capable of bearing these children.