THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, October 21, 1995             TAG: 9510210304
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                         LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

WELFARE DOES NOT BOLSTER UNWED BIRTHS, STUDY SAYS

There is little consistent evidence to support the widespread contention that teenagers and single women are having babies to get welfare, according to a federally funded study.

The report, prepared for the Department of Health and Human Services by Child Trends Inc., a non-partisan research firm, challenges the claims of conservatives who say welfare is a cause of the dramatic increase in out-of-wedlock births in the past 30 years.

Child Trends, in a review of the current research and statistics, concludes instead that the birth rate has changed little; it's just that fewer people are getting married.

``Americans are not having more babies; they're having fewer marriages,'' said the report, which was released Friday. ``The economic and social circumstances which make marriage less attractive, less necessary or less feasible are one of the root causes of the increase in single-parent families.''

The researchers said most out-of-wedlock births are unintended, as parents are unable to obtain, do not choose, or fail to use effective contraception on a regular basis.

Three of every 10 births were to unwed mothers in 1993, an almost eightfold increase since 1940, according to the report, which was requested by Congress in the 1994 crime bill.

Nonmarital childbearing is higher among those who are less educated and poor; rates are higher among black women but rising faster among white women, the report said.

Robert Rector, a welfare expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the report is ``just the tired liberal establishment attempting to defend the indefensible, and not even Bill Clinton agrees with them.''

Rep. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., said society gets more of what it subsidizes, and ``we subsidize illegitimacy, so we shouldn't be surprised when we see it increase.''

Discontinuing welfare benefits for unmarried teenage mothers is expected to be one of the most contentious when negotiators begin meeting soon to resolved differences in separate welfare bills passed by the House and Senate.

KEYWORDS: BIRTHS ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS TEENAGE PREGNANCY by CNB