Among Mothers, Family Size is ShrinkingIn the late 1970s, the average mother at the finish of her childbearing years had given nativity to more than 3 children. Since that time, average family size has declined, driven largely by declines in families with four or more children. Now, moms take 2.4 children on average – a number that has been fairly stable for two decades.

In 1976, iv-in-10 mothers ages 40 to 44 had four or more children. 1-fourth had three children, and a similar share (24%) had ii children. Only 11% of mothers at the finish of their childbearing years had had only i child.

Wink forward to 2014, and the state of affairs has changed dramatically. The in one case-dominant four-child family has been replaced by the ii-child family. A plurality (41%) of moms at the end of their childbearing years now study having two kids, while just 14% take four or more children. Meanwhile, the share of mothers at the end of their childbearing years who have i kid has doubled – from 11% to 22%. As has been the example for many decades, well-nigh i-fourth of mothers accept 3 children (24%).

Most of the change in family unit size occurred between 1976 and the mid-1990s. Family unit size since that fourth dimension has remained quite stable.

Number of Children, past Educational Attainment

Moms with Less Education Have Bigger FamiliesThe more pedagogy a mother has, the fewer children she volition have on average in her lifetime. While fertility drops somewhat with each additional level of education, the biggest fertility gap occurs between women who lack a high schoolhouse diploma and those who accept completed high school.

Moms ages twoscore to 44 who lack a high school diploma take well-nigh 2.nine children in their lifetimes, on average, while those with a high school diploma or some college have about 2.4 kids. Mothers at the end of their childbearing years who have a bachelor's degree or higher take most two.ii children on average.

The ii-child family unit is the most mutual family unit blazon among moms with a loftier school diploma or more, and it is particularly prevalent amongst women with a bachelor'due south degree or higher. Some 46% of women ages forty to 44 with a bachelor'due south degree accept 2 children, as do one-half of those with at least a master's degree. One third (32%) of women who lack a high school diploma accept two children, every bit practice 38% of those with a loftier schoolhouse diploma or some college feel.

More than half (55%) of mothers who lack a high schoolhouse diploma have three children or more – 29% have exactly three children, and 26% have four or more. The likelihood of having such large families declines markedly at higher levels of didactics. Amid mothers with a loftier school diploma or some higher experience, 24% have three children and another 14% have iv or more than children, while about i-third (32%) of mothers with a bachelor's degree accept three or more children. Meanwhile, mothers with advanced degrees are one-half as likely every bit those lacking a high school diploma to have iii or more than children – just 27% do. Some 19% have three children, and 8% have iv or more.

While the association of education and family size remains a strong one, in fact the educational "gap" in fertility has narrowed in the past two decades, driven in role by increases in family size amidst the highly educated.

Among Highly Educated Moms, Families are Getting BiggerSince 1994, the share of mothers with at least a master's caste who have just i child has declined from 28% to 23%. At the same fourth dimension, the share having 3 or more children has increased from 22% to 27%. Highly educated women are the only grouping in which this clear pattern emerges, with a declining share having one child and a rising share having three or more.

Among mothers who lack a loftier schoolhouse diploma, the share having four or more has declined by 5 points, while the share having exactly three children has increased by 5 points. In that location has been little modify in the share with fewer children.

Interestingly, amid mothers with a high schoolhouse diploma, the share having two children has declined by v per centum points, down from 43% in 1994. This turn down is accompanied by an increase in the share having simply one child.

Fertility patterns have remained virtually unchanged since 1994 for mothers with a bachelor's degree.

Fertility Patterns Among Mothers by Race and Ethnicity

Among Hispanics, Big Families are the NormAmong mothers near the end of their childbearing years, Hispanics and blacks have the largest families. On average, a Hispanic mother ages xl to 44 has had about 2.six children. By comparison, blackness mothers have had well-nigh two.5. White and Asian mothers accept families that are a bit smaller, on average. White mothers have 2.3 children, and Asian mothers take ii.2 children.

When looking at the distribution of family unit size by race and ethnicity, the distinctiveness of the Hispanic family unit becomes particularly credible. Among mothers ages forty to 44, Hispanics are the least likely to take just one kid – just 17% do. In dissimilarity, fully 25% of black moms accept had just 1 child, as is the case for 23% of white moms and 22% of Asian moms.

Conversely, Hispanics are far more likely than others to take large families. Fully half of Hispanic mothers have three or more kids, compared with xl% of blacks. About one-third (33%) of whites have three or more kids, and just 27% of Asian moms do.

Among whites, blacks and Asians, having ii children is the most common outcome for mothers. Asian moms are the near likely to have two children – fully half do. Some 44% of white moms ages 40 to 44 take ii children, as do about one-third of black moms.

Looking at changes in fertility over fourth dimension, it'due south credible that families with 4 or more children are in turn down for whites, blacks, and Hispanics. Nevertheless, there are variations in which family sizes are "gaining ground" as very large families are on the wane.

Across All Racial and Ethnic Groups, Dramatic Declines in Very Large FamiliesThe reject in the share of moms with four or more kids has been particularly dramatic among black mothers. In 1988, iii-in-10 black mothers ages forty to 44 had four or more children, simply past 2014, just 18% did. At the same fourth dimension, the share of blackness mothers with one child rose past five percentage points (from 20% to 25%), as did the share with two children.

The decline in the share of mothers with four or more children has been notable among Hispanics as well. In 1988, fully 31% of Hispanic moms had iv or more children. That share dropped to xx% by 2014. At the same fourth dimension, at that place was an eight-percent-point increase in the share of Hispanic moms with exactly three children – suggesting that many mothers were opting for 3 kids instead of iv or more.

Amidst white mothers, the 6-betoken refuse in families with four or more children has been totally offset by the 6-point rising in but children.

Data on Asian mothers are unavailable for 1988, but since 1994, at that place has been no significant modify in the size of their families.