A recent study by the Pew Research Center revealed that the percentage of unwed mothers have ballooned from 5.3% in 1960 to 36.8% in 1995. However, the faces of these mothers are drastically changing. Before, most unwed mothers were teenagers without any support from their partner. Now, the image has shifted to 30 and 40-year-olds career women—often times living with their partners.

Along with this rise in out-of-wedlock birthrates, cohabitation is becoming more prevalent—nearly half of adults from 30-40 having lived in a cohabiting relationship.

With the rise in both statistics—is it safe to assume that cohabitation is a likely cause for the ballooning birth rate? Could it also indicate a general change in societies’ perception of whether marriage is a significant part of child-raising?