More than half of births to American women younger than 30 are outside marriage, research has found.

And across all ages, a staggering four in ten women are not married when they have children.

And with two-thirds of children in the U.S. born to mothers under the age of 30, it appears the majority of births across the country are out of wedlock.

The data was compiled by Child Trends, a Washington research group that analysed government data, and reported by the New York Times.

The paper reported that most college graduates marry before they have children, suggesting family structure is becoming a new class divide. "Marriage has become a luxury good," Frank Furstenberg, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Times.

The results carry concerning consequences, with researchers finding children born out of wedlock are more likely to struggle in school or suffer emotional and behavioral problems.

Source: Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103235/Most-children-U-S-born-wedlock.html