Characteristics of births to single- and multiple-race women: California, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Washington, 2003

Abstract

Objectives: In 2003, California, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Ohio (for births occurring in December only), Utah, and Washington provided to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) multiple as well as single racial entries that mothers and fathers had reported on birth certificates in accordance with the revised race and ethnicity standards issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 1997. This report provides detailed data on women reporting single race (one race) and multiple race (two or more races) by selected demographic and health characteristics (e.g., fertility, age at first birth, Hispanic ethnicity, marital status, country of birth, preterm birth, and low birthweight) of the women and their infants. Data presented in this report are derived from birth certificates from the five states that collected, reported, and transmitted to NCHS multiple-race data as of January 1, 2003 (California, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Washington). Data on selected demographic and health characteristics were analyzed comparing single-race mothers to multiple-race mothers.

Methods: Descriptive tabulations of data reported on the birth certificates of the single- and multiple-race births that occurred in the reporting area in 2003 are presented.

Results: In 2003, 2.5 percent of births in California, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Washington were to women who reported two or more races, with levels varying from 1 (Utah) to 33 percent (Hawaii). Birth and fertility rates for single-race (one race) groups were generally lower than the rates for multiple-race groups (each race in combination with one or more other races), whereas age at first birth was generally higher for single-race women than for multiple-race women. The percentages of Hispanic births to single-race black, American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN), Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) women were lower than the percentage for women reporting those races in combination with one or more of the other races (multiple race). The percentage of births to unmarried women was higher among single-race black and AIAN women compared with multiple-race black and AIAN women, whereas the proportions were considerably higher for multiple-race white, Asian, and NHOPI women than for their single-race counterparts. The percentage of mothers born in the 50 states and the District of Columbia was consistently higher for multiple-race women than single-race women. In terms of infant health characteristics, infants of single-race white and Asian women had a lower preterm birth rate than infants of multiple-race white and Asian women, whereas infants of single-race black and AIAN women had higher preterm rates than infants of multiple-race black and AIAN women. The low birthweight rate was also significantly lower for single-race white, Asian, and NHOPI women than their multiple-race counterparts. In comparison, the rate for single-race black women was higher than the rate for multiple-race black women.