Full text of Children of Illegitimate Birth : Measures for Their Protection, Bureau Publication No. 166

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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
JAMES J DAVIS. Secretary

CHILDREN’S BUREAU
GRACE ABBOTT. Chief

CHILDREN OPJHIDE£fBiMlS

College op Texas Lumet
MEASURES FOR THEIR PROTECTION
By

EMMA O. LUNDBERG

Bureau Publication No. 166

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1926


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SINGLE COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE
OBTAINED FREE UPON APPLICATION TO THE
CHILDREN'S BUREAU.

ADDITIONAL COPIES MAY

BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF
DOCUMENTS, GOYERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, D . C.
AT
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CENTS PER COPY

CONTENTS

Other publications of the Children’s Bureau relating to illegitimacy_____
W hat illegitimate birth means to the child___________________ ___ _________
The prevalence of birth out of w edlock--^--------------------------------_______ ■;____r_
The high infant mortality rate and its causes____________ ._________________
Illegitimacy as a dependency problem_______________________ __________ ___ ■_
The factors in the problem in relation to preventive social measures____
Constructive legislation_____________________________________________________if.


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OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF THE CHILDREN’S BUREAU RELATING
TO ILLEGITIMACY
Adoption Laws in the United States; a summary of the development of adop­
tion legislation and significant features of adoption statutes, with the text
of selected laws, by Emelyn Foster Peck. Publication No. 148, 153 pp. 1925.
Illegitimacy as a Child-Welfare Problem: Part 1— A Brief Treatment of the
Prevalence and Significance of Birth out of Wedlock, the Child’s Status, and
the State’s Responsibility for Care and Protection (with bibliographical
m aterial), by Emma O. Lundberg and Katharine F. Lenroot. Publication
No. 66. 405 pp. 1921.
Illegitimacy as a Child-Welfare Problem: Part 2— A Study of the Original
- Records in the City of Boston and in the State of Massachusetts, by Emma
O. Lundberg and Katharine F. Lenroot. Publication No. 75. 408 pp. 1921.
Illegitimacy as a Child-Welfare Problem: Part 3— Methods of Care in Selected
Urban and Rural Communities. Publication No. 128. 260 pp. 1924.
Illegitimacy Laws of the United States and Certain Foreign Countries, by
Ernst Freund. 260 pp. 1919. (Exhausted; available in libraries.)
Illegitimacy Laws of the United States; analysis and index. Excerpt from
Publication No. 42. 98 pp. 1919. (Obtainable only from the Children’s
Bureau.)
Minimum Standards for Child W elfare Adopted by the Washington and
Regional Conferences on Child W elfare, 1919. Publication No. 62. 15 pp.
1920.
Norwegian Laws Concerning Illegitimate Children; introduction and transla­
tion by Leifur Magnusson. Publication No. 31. 37 pp. 1918.
Standards of Child W e lfa re; a report of the Children’s Bureau Conferences,
May and June, 1919. Publication No. 60. 459 pp. 1919,
Separate No. 1. The Economic and Social Basis for Child-Welfare Standards.
Separate No. 4. Children in Need of Special' Care and Standardization of
Child-Welfare Laws.
Standards of Legal Protection for Children Born out of W edlock; a report of
regional conferences held under the auspices of the U. S. Children’s Bureau
and the Inter-City Conference on Illegitimacy. Publication No. 77. 158 pp
1921.
A Study of Maternity Homes in Minnesota and Pennsylvania. Publication No.
— . — pp. 1926. (In press.)
,
The W elfare of Infants of Illegitimate Birth in Baltimore as affected by a
Maryland law of 1916 governing the separation from their mothers of chil­
dren under 6 months old, by Rena Rosenberg and A. Madorah Donahue.
Publication No. 144. 24 pp. 1925.

xv


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CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH AND MEASURES FOR
THEIR PROTECTION
WHAT ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH MEANS TO THE CHILD

“ The fundamental rights of childhood,” in the words of a reso­
lution adopted by the child-welfare conferences held under the
auspices o f the United States Children’s Bureau, “ are normal home
life, opportunities for education^ recreation, vocational preparation
for life, and moral, religious, and physical development in harmony
with American ideals * * *.” 1 For centuries the child born out
o f wedlock has been deprived of these rights, and particularly of
that most basic of all rights—normal home life, with all that home
implies o f parental care and affection. Though guiltless themselves,
such children have been made to suffer for the sins of their parents
and for those social conditions which foster misconduct.
A letter to his mother from a 14-year-old boy, who from infancy
ha'd been a ward of a public child-caring agency, expresses the
instinctive yearning o f every child for a father and mother and
kin of his own, a birthright o f which this child, born out o f wedlock,
had been deprived:
Dear mother, I was very glad to hear from you. I was so surprised to
hear from my mother I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know I had a
mother. Have I a father, sisters or brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins? I am
well. I am almost 14. How old are you? I hope you are well the same as
me. W rite to me and tell me more about you— what you are doing. From
your son.

A study of the histories of these children who have been deprived
o f their birthright indicates the mental suffering that may be more
important to consider than any actual “ stigma ” that might pertain
to illegitimate birth. In early infancy John was abandoned by his
mother and taken under care by a public agency. He was boarded
in family homes until he was 14 years o f age. Then, for some mis­
demeanor, he was sent to an industrial school. At the age of 17
years he wrote to the superintendent of the State agency:
I
would like to know where I was born and how old I was when I was put
on the State, and what for did my father and mother die or what was the
matter. Have I any brothers or sisters in the world or any friends? I am 17
years old the 25th of this month, just the rite age to learn a trade. Please write
and tell me how things are as soon as possible please.
Your friend,
Joh n.
1 Minimum Standards for Child Welfare, Adopted by the Washington and Regional Con­
ferences on Child Welfare, 1919, p. 11. U. S. Children’s Bureau Publication No. 62.
Washington, 1920.

1


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2

CHILDREN OP ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

This letter gives a very real picture o f the condition of many a
child born out o f wedlock—“ nobody’s child,” but with an instinctive
longing to know whence he sprang and what place he would rightly
hold in the community. In ignorance o f the conditions of his birth
and the circumstances that made him a public ward, he comes to
the natural conclusion that his parents must have died, thus leaving
him dependent, and hopes to get in touch with brothers or sisters or
“ any friends.” To him these things are necessary to settling down to
learn a trade. Does not this boy tell us the first and most important
article o f a square deal—the right o f every child to have a father and
mother, relatives and friends, a home o f his own, and a definite place
in the community?
Fortunately conditions in our country are such that many o f the
children who begin life with the handicap o f birth out o f wedlock
are received into normal family groups and suffer little if any
unfortunate results from their birth status. The children who con­
cern us are those who suffer as a result of the conditions under which
they are brought into the world—those who die in infancy because
of lack of proper maternal care, those who become dependent upon
the public for support, those who are neglected, and those whose
circumstances of life contribute to make them delinquent.
THE PREVALENCE OF BIRTH OUT OF WEDLOCK
ILLEGITIMACY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN EUROPE

In most European countries birth registration, because of its im­
portance in connection with military service and other governmental
requirements, has been very nearly complete. Statistics o f illegiti­
mate births have been the subject o f exhaustive research by students
o f social problems and by statistical bodies and are therefore readily
available for comparative study.
It is very difficult in the United States to obtain adequate data on
the prevalence of birth out o f wedlock, even in the States included
in the birth-registration area, which comprise about three-fourths of
the total( estimated population. The proportion o f unregistered
illegitimate births is undoubtedly greater than the proportion of
unregistered legitimate births. The entry of incorrect information on
the birth certificate further invalidates the figures, and the failure of
many States and cities to compile separate statistics for illegitimate
births reduces still more the amount of information available. The
data that can be obtained indicate a problem not so great in extent as
in most European countries but of sufficient proportions to demand
serious attention and study. The number and rate o f illegitimate
live births per 1,000 total live births in the United States and in
specified countries o f Europe are given in Table 1:


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CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

T a b l e 1.__ Illegitimate live births per 1,000 total live births in, the United States

and m specified countries of Europe, 1914-1923

I lle g it im a t e l iv e
b ir t h s , 1923

R a t e o f ille g itim a t e
liv e
b ir t h s
per
1,000 t o t a l l iv e
b ir t h s

Country
N um ber

United States birth-registration areas.
Austria------------------------- --------------------Belgium--------------------------------- ----------Czechoslovakia---------------------------------Denmark7____________ ,........IN w BiP
Finland----------—................- .......... ..........
Germany------------------------------------------B avaria....___ ---------- -—
Prussia--------------------- ------- - ..........
Saxony................................- ............
Württemberg.......................- .........Great Britain and Ireland----------------■ England and Wales-------------------Ireland (North)........................... .
Irish Free State-------------------■-----Scotland_______________ ------------Hungary--------------------- - ..................- - Italy.......................... ............ - ........ - - - Luxemburg................... .........— --------Norway10. . ........................ g----- r—-----Rumania.................................................
Spain_________________ ___ ____ ____
Sweden....................................................
Switzerland...... ..................... - ................
The Netherlands....................................

37,823
t 29,660
8 ,714
37,638
8; 055
7,1 9 7
133,670
22,012
71,844
81 5 ,6 2 5
4 ,6 3 9
41,967
31, 522
1,344
1 ,624
7 ,477
818; 151
49,272
228
4 ,301
8 62,301
8 38,225
15,851
21760
3,447

R a te
Annual
p e r 1,000
average,
average,
t o t a l l i v e i 1914-1918 1919-1923
b ir t h s

2 3 .3
< 209.1
5 6 .0
9 9 .7
107.6
8 7 .8
103.0
127.3
9 0 .6
8 1 5 8 .8
9 0 .4
4 1 .6
4 4 .7
2 6 .3
6 6 .8
8 7 2 .8
4 4 .5
4 1 .7
6 8 .6
■s 101. 5
8 58 .3
140.4
3 6 .5
1 8 .6

m

2 4 5 .9

(5)

*

2 3 .2
2 2 1 .8
6 3 ,6

(«)
1 15 .4
8 1 .0
109 .8
14 0 .5
9 9 .4
154.1
9 7 .9

(«)

(9)

(9)

4 9 .8
4 5 .5

(5)
7 3 .0
9 7 .4
4 5 .7
58 .4
70.1
(“ )
5 2 .3
150.9
4 6 .9
2 2 .0

108 .6
8 5 .8
107 .6
131 .6
9 8 .4
« 143 .4
9 6 .6
4 7 .3
4 4 .2
(«)
72 .1
» 7 6 .6
46 .1
4 9 .9
7 0 .8
« 9 7 .7
« 6 0 .7
145.1
4 0 .5
2 0 .2

1 -For Fiirnnean rates covering the period 1906 to 1914, see Illegitimacy as a Child-Welfare Problem,
i « M ? f r s Chfldren’s Bureau Publication No. 66, Washington, 1920). Except as otherwise noted,

P o r t i o n , L aH aye, 1925, pp. 272-282. in certam countnes fGermany, Prussia, Bavaria, Hungary)

im

p. 32; 19^7p l9 fU. S. Bureau of the Census, Washington, 1924 and 1925).
s Figures not available prior to 1917.
4 Figures for 1921 and annual average, 1919-1921.
s Not reported between 1914 and 1918.

7 Stlrtistisk Aarbog, Danmark, 1919, pp. 16»1^ 1^21’ PP-14’ 15; 1925’ pp' 24, 25‘
8Figures for 1922 and annual average 1919 to 1922.
9 Figures for Irish Free State available for 1923 only.
« Statistisk Arbok for Kongeriket Norge, 44de Argang, 1924, p. 22. Oslo, 1925. Figures for 1923 proV*n No figures available for 1916,1917, and 1918.

The rate for the United States appears to be lower than the rate
for any European country for which figures are available except the
Netherlands. It is probable, however, that the United States rate
is more of an understatement than the rates for many European
countries. (See p. 2.) The European figures are only approxi­
mately comparable because of differences in methods of registration
and in legal definitions of illegitimacy. The Netherlands, the Irish
Free State, Switzerland, England and Wales, Luxemburg, Italy,
North Ireland, Belgium, and Spain have the lowest
" f the
European countries, the annual average for 1919-1923, and the ra


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CHILDREN OP ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

for 1923, for all these countries being less than 70 illegitimate births
per 1,000 live births. Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and
Eumania have the highest rates—from 97.7 to 221.8 per 1,000. For
most countries the annual average for 1919-1923 was slightly less
than the annual average for the preceding five-year period, 1914—1918.
ILLEGITIMACY RATES IN STATES AND CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES

In the States for which data can be obtained the number of
illegitimate live births per 1,000 total live births was 23.3 in 1923.
I f negro births in States having large negro populations are ex­
cluded the rates for individual States ranged from 6.9 to 38.8.
Table 2 shows the number of live births reported as illegitimate
in 28 States and the District of Columbia in the birth-registration
area in 1923, and the rate of illegitimate live births per 1,000 total
live births for each year o f the period 1917 to 1923:
T a b l e 2. — Live

births reported as illegitimate in 1923 and illegitimate live
births per 1,000 total live births, 1917-1923, by States in the birth-registra­
tion area1

State

Num­
ber of
live
births
re­
ported
as
illegiti­
mate,
1923

United States birth-registra­
tion area1................................ 37,823
Connecticut................................... .
Delaware................
District of Columbia:
W h ite ........................................
Colored......... ................. ..............
Illinois.............. ....................................
Indiana.............................. .................
Kansas..............................................
Kentucky:
White.............................................
Colored..........................................
M aine8..................................... ...........
Maryland:
White....................... ......... ...........
Colored.............. ...... ...................
Michigan__ ____ __________________
Minnesota...........................................
Mississippi:
White.............................................
Colored....... ..................................
Montana........ .....................................
Nebraska.... ........................................
New Hampshire 8................................
New Jersey..........................................

367
176

Rate of illegitimate live births per 1,000 total live births
in specified years

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

18.6

17.4

21.1

22.7

24.4

23.8

23.3

9.3

11.0

9.8

0)

10.6

0

11.1
41.3

11.9
45.6

11.9
38.8
. 17.2
160.0
12.7
13.3
10.3

0

(?)

110
420
1,677
869
• 405

21.0
177.6

14.3
146.7

18.3
162.8

22.6
155.8

18.9
155.8

13.1
7.1

12.1
6.3

13.2
7.3

12.7
7.0

14.0
9.9

19.5
167.2
13.2
12.6
11.5

648
370
272

9.8
74.8
9.7

7.4
85.5
8.4

9.9
103.9
11.4

12.5
113.7
12.9

10.9
107.0
11.9

12.8
118.8
13.4

10.6
105.2
15.5

519
1,340
1,434
1,049

17.0
170.9
12.4
16.1

18.1
171.3
12.4
16.0

18.6
180.3
13.2
16.2

18.5
178.6
15:1
16.9

18.4
194.1
16.5
18.7

19.6
184.2
15.6
18.4

18.7
195.1
15.4
18.6

0
0
0)

(2)

8.9
133.3

10.3
135.4
12.7
11.1
12.6
13.0

8.9
133.1
14.8
12.3
11.3
12.4

186
2,929
155
372
105
928

0

(?)
(?)

0

0

0

00

0

0
0
0

m

(J)

0
0

00

0

10.3

9.6
11.8

0

0

10.9

13.0

0

0

11.5
13.9
13.1

1 Exclusive of California and Massachusetts, for which, illegitimacy statistics are not
available. Birth, Stillbirth, and Infant M ortality Statistics for the Birth-Registration
Area of the United States, 1921, 1922, and 1923. U. S. Bureau o f the Census. W ashing­
ton, 1923, 1924, and 1925.
2 Not in birth-registration area until a later date.
8 The birth certificates of these States do not require information as to legitimacy, but it
is sometimes given.
(Although the Census Bureau states that the information “ is some­
times given,” it will be seen from the table that the rates for Maine and New Hampshire
are average and for Vermont very high.)


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CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

T a b l e 2.— L ive births reported as illegitimate in 1923 and illegitimate live

births per 1,000 total live births, 1917-1923, etc.— Continued

State

New York__________________ ______
North Carolina:
White............................................
Ohio_______________________ - _____
Rhode Island. .... .............................
South Carolina:
White.............................................
Utah.....................................................
Virginia:
White............................................

Num­ Rate of illegitimate live births per 1,000 total live births
in specified years
ber of
live
births
re­
ported
as
1921
1922
1923
1910
1920
1918
illegiti­ 1917
mate,
1923
12.2

9.0

10.3

12.2

12.3

12.2

12.1

997
3,509
2,060
183
4,672
236

15.6
124.8
12.5
(»)
17.8
14.2

14.4
114.3
12.6
(2)
18.1
8.4

14.8
115.4
14.9
13.9
19.0
(«)

17.2
127.7
16.1
14.3
21.2
(*)

16.7
131.2
16.3
14.0
22.1
4.2

17.3
139.0
17.1
14.4
22.8
9.3

17.2
134.1
16.0
12.2
21.5
16.3

475
3,266
113
186

(«)
(»)
7.2
12.3

(*)
(2)

16.9
135.6
7.8
18.6

19.6
140.6
8.1
17.5

20.1
142.7
8.0
17.2

19.8
153.0
7.7
15.7

20.7
153.0
8.3
25.4

915
2,725
341
997

20.0
127-.8
9.4
12.0

17.4
125.4

18.2
129.6
9.8
12.1

19.9
129.0
12.3
15.0

20.2
135.2
11.7
16.2

(•)

(!)

(*)

(»)

(»)

19.7
137.0
12.0
15.8
6.9

20.5
138.6
13.5
16.9
6.9

2,783

34

8.5
12.7

11.9

2 Not in birth-registration area until a later date.
3 The birth certificates of these States do not require information as to legitimacy, but
it is sometimes given.
(Although the Census Bureau states that the information “ is
sometimes given /’ it will be seen from the table that the rates for Maine and New
Hampshire are average and for Vermont very high.)
* Not in birth-registration area in these two years.

In 23 o f the 28 States shown in Table 2, and in the District o f
Columbia, the number o f illegitimate live births per 1,000 total live
births, or the white rates where separate figures are given for white
and colored2 births, ranged in 1923 between 10 and 20 per 1,000,
or between 1 and 2 per cent. The rate for the United States birthregistration area as a whole (23.3, exclusive o f California and Massa­
chusetts) was raised somewhat by the high rates for the colored.
In six States and the District o f Columbia rates for white and
colored were given separately, the rates for the colored ranging from
105.2 per 1,000 to 195.1 per 1,000 (10.5 to 19.5 per cent). Though
these rates are extremely high, compared with the white rates in the
United States, they correspond rather closely to the rates for Euro­
pean countries having the largest relative amount o f illegitimacy.
City rates of illegitimate live births for 21 cities in the United
States having more than 100,000 inhabitants are shown in Table 3.
In most cases the city rate is higher than the rate for the State in
which it is located.
2 Where the term “ colored ” is used in this report it includes all other than white and
may include Indians, Chinese, and Japanese.

10884°— 26------2


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CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

T able 3.— Illegitimate live "births per 1,000 total live births in 21 cities in the
United States having more thorn 100,000 population in 19 201
City
Albany____________
Baltimore:
W hite............ Colored________
Buffalo........... ...........
Cincinnati_________
Denver__ ____ _____
D etroit--____ ______
Grand Rapids...........
Hartford.--...............
Kansas Citv, M o___
Milwaukee_____ . . . .
Minneapolis_______.
Newark.....................
New York_________
Philadelphia_______
Providence—....... ......
Rochester....... ...........
St. Louis___________
St. Paul..... ................
Syracuse___________
Yonkers...................
Washington, D. C.:
W hite.................
Colored________

1915

1916
19.7

16.4

8.4

10.9

17.4

18.7

17.2

31.3
245.2
20.7
38.3
28.4
25.9
37.1
18.1
60.7
25.9
42.8
13.9
12.1
27.5
22.3

25.7
227.0
22.4
28.3
29.2
22.3
41.5
19.1
62.8
28.0
39.9
13.0
10.6
23.8
19.7
10.5
39.2
40.2
20.0
7.6

21.5
216.2
25.2
23.0
36.3
20.8
34.1
18.6
79.5
26.3
40.4
11.6
10.2
23.2
22.1
8.6
36.2
47.8
17.3
9.2

18.7
217.5
18.0
26.5
39.6
20.2
29.0
20.9
82.3
22.6
40.5

17.2
209.0
22.4
29.7
33.7
17.5
31.7
17.2
119.3
24.5
35.0

14.4
222.8
21.0

42.0
17.7

23.3
22.6
6.5
36.3
37.6
10.6
6.9

10. 7
23.5
18.1
10.0
41.8
40.6
15.3
8.1

13.2
217.7
18.9
28.9
31.9
20.6
33.1
21.6
135.7
26.2
40.4
10.8
10. 7
23.2
17.8
10.0
37.1
39.1
16.9
12.5

16.1
181.9

21.0
177.6

14.3
146.7

18.3
162.8

22.6
155.8

37.4
37.4

22.6
194.5

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

17.6
199.3
21.3

15.7
214.4
20.3

16.3
207.7
27.0

18.0
39.5
20.4

10. fi
38.9
17.8

48.3
19.8

23.0
17.9
13.2

13. 2
10.0
24.1
17.7
14.8

10. fi
0. 4
23. 2
17.0

19.9

38.8
17.0
8.7

41.8
23. 6
8.4

35.7

39.5

18.9'
155.8

19.5
167.2

17.2
160.0

19.0
164.3

47.3
12.4

1 Data from annual reports of or figures furnished by State boards of health, departments of public wel­
fare, or bureaus of vital statistics. For Washington, D. C., the figures for 1917-1923 are from the A n n ual
Reports of Birth Statistics (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1921, 1922, and 1923).
ILLEGITIMACY RATES ACCORDING TO COUNTRY OF BIRTH AND AGE OF MOTHER

In the United States birth-registration area in 1923, exclusive of
California and Massachusetts, for which illegitimacy statistics are
hot available, 23 live births out of every 1,000 were illegitimate.
The lowest illegitimacy rate was among the foreign-born mothers.
O f the births to native white mothers 16 per 1,000 and o f the births
to negro mothers 126 per 1,000 were illegitimate.
Among the foreign-born mothers, Italians were found to have the
lowest rate (1.8) and Canadians the highest (12.8). Even the Ca­
nadian rate, however, was lower than the rate for mothers born in
the United States. The rates, according to race and birthplace of
the mothers, are shown in the following list,:

Race and country of
birth of mother

Rate per
1 ,000 live
births in
United
States
birthregistration area,
1923 8

Total_______________________
W h it e _________ _________________
United S ta tes_______________
Foreign countries___________
Austria, Hungary_______
Canada___ ______
Denmark,
Norway,
Sw eden_______________
England, S c o t l a n d ,
W ales--------------------------Irelan d_________________

2 3 .3
13. 8
16 .1
5. 3
5. 7
12. 8
9. 5
10. 5
10. 3

•Exclusive of California and Massachusetts.


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Race and country of
birth of mother

Rate per
1 ,000 live
births in
United
States
birthregistra­
tion area,
1923 8

W h ite— Continued
Foreign countries— Cpntd.
12 .0
G erm a n y ___ ___________
I t a l y -----------------------------l. 8
Poland_________________
4. 4
R u s s i a _________________
2. 5
Other foreign countries5. 9
Country not stated___167. 3
Colored:
N eg ro ---------------------------- -------126. 3
Other colored_______________ 38. 6

7

CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

Approximately half the illegitimate births in the birth-registra­
tion area in 1923, exclusive of California and Massachusetts, were to
mothers under 20 years of age, and about four-fifths were to mothers
under 25.
The following list shows the distribution of illegitimate births ac­
cording to the age of the mother:

Age of mother at
birth of child
Total —

Per cent
distribution of
illegitimate
births
100.0

10 years, under 15______ ____ ___
15 years, under 20_______ ____
20 years, under 25 ____

2 .4
4 8 .8
2 9 .8

Age of mother at
birth of child
25 years, under 30
30 years, under 35
35 years, under 40
40 years, under 45
45 years and over

_____
____
_
____

Per cent
distribution of
illegitimate
births
9 .8
4 .8
3. 2
1.1
.2

Comparison of the age distribution of white and colored mothers
shows 81.2 per cent of the white and 80.6 per cent of the colored less
than 25 years o f age. But the proportion of colored mothers (53.2
per cent) less than 20 years of age is greater than that of white
mothers (49.2 per cent). The percentage of white mothers in the age
period 20 to 24 years is greater than that of negroes. O f the births
to foreign-born mothers only 28 per cent were to mothers under 20.
Seventy-nine per cent of the births to foreign-born mothers were to
mothers under 30 compared with 91 per cent of the births to native
white mothers and 90 per cent of those to colored mothers.
ESTIM ATED NUMBER OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS IN THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES

The population of the birth-registration area in 1923, exclusive of
California and Massachusetts, for which illegitimacy statistics are
not available, comprised 72.2 per cent o f the total estimated popula­
tion of the United States. In attempting to estimate the number
o f illegitimate births in the entire country it is necessary to apply
the rate for this area to the estimated total number of births in the
country as a whole. It must be borne in mind, however, that this
procedure results in an understatement o f the true figure, inasmuch
as negroes, among whom the illegitimacy rate is high, comprised,
according to the 1920 census, 9.9 per cent o f the population o f the
entire United States and only 6.2 per cent of the population o f the
States in the birth-registration area.
The estimated number o f births in the United States in 1923 was
2,482,889; applying to this number the rate o f illegitimate births
(23.3 per 1,000) as found for the registration area in 1923 gives
57,851 as the estimated number o f illegitimate births in the United
States in that year.
THE HIGH INFANT MORTALITY RATE AND ITS CAUSES

Nowhere is the need for protection o f infancy so clearly indicated
as in the mortality rates for infants born out o f wedlock. European
statistics have shown that mortality among such infants is invariably
higher than among other infants—sometimes more than twice as


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8

C H ILDREN OP ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

high.4 Unfortunately, mortality statistics for infants o f illegitimate
birth are practically nonexistent in the United States. A study made
in Boston covering the year 1914 showed a rate for infants o f
illegitimate birth three times as high as the rate for infants born in
wedlock; in New Bedford in 1913 and Milwaukee in 1916-1917
the rates w.ere, respectively, 2.7 times and 2.3 times as high. In
Baltimore in 1915 the infant mortality rate for white infants born
out o f wedlock was 3.3 times as high as the rate for other white
infants, and among the colored infants the difference in the rates
was 1.8. Marked improvement has taken place in some o f these
cities in recent years. In Baltimore in 1921 the rate for white in­
fants o f illegitimate birth was only 1.8 times as high as the rate
for other white infants, and the rates for colored infants o f legiti. mate and of illegitimate birth were practically equal.®
Perhaps the most important factor in high infant mortality is
early separation of the mother and child and the consequent diffi­
culties with feeding. A sentiment growing in favor in many com­
munities is that o f keeping mother and child together wherever
the mother’s rights and obligations and the welfare of the child can
be promoted by this means. The policy of keeping mother and
child together, at least during the nursing period, has been advo­
cated for a long time and has been followed successfully by many
maternity homes and by some child-caring agencies.
Recent legislation in three States has placed legal sanction upon
the policy o f requiring mothers and babies to remain together during the nursing period. Maryland public sentiment was aroused
by a study made by the State vice commission in 1914, which re­
vealed the seriousness o f the problem o f early separation from their
mothers o f infants born out of wedlock and the high mortality pre­
vailing among babies cared for in institutions apart from their
mothers. In 1916 a statute was enacted providing that no child
under 6 months o f age may be separated from his mother for place­
ment in a foster home or institution except under one of the three
following specified conditions: (1) Certification (with statement of
the reasons for the necessity o f separation for the physical good of
the mother or child) by two physicians qualified to practice medi­
cine in the State of Maryland and engaged in active practice for at
least five years; (2) order for separation by a court of competent
jurisdiction; (3) written consent to separation by the board o f Stateaid and charities. The law makes no distinction between children
born out of wedlock and children of legitimate birth, but in opera­
tion it affects mainly children of illegitimate birth.6 North Carolina
enacted in 1917 a statute similar to that o f Maryland forbidding
separation except with the written consent of the clerk of the supe­
rior court and o f the comity health officer.7 South Carolina passed
* Illegitimacy as a Child-Welfare Problem— P t. 1, p. 29. U. S. Children’s Bureau Pub­
lication No. 66. Washington, 1920.
5 Illegitimacy as a Child-W elfare Problem— Pt. 2, p. 9 0 ; Infant M ortality— Results of
a Field Study in New Bedford, Mass., based on births in one year, pp. 15, 64, 6 6 ; Illegiti­
macy as a Child-W elfare Problem— Pt. 3, p. 9 6 ; Infan t M ortality— Results o f a Field
Study in Baltimore, Md., based on births in one year, p. 1 6 9 ; The W elfare of Infan ts of
Illegitimate Birth in Baltimore, p. 6. U. S. Children’s Bureau Publications Nos. 73, 68,
128, 119, and 144. Washington, 1921, 1920, 1924, 1923, and 1925.
• Maryland, act of Apr. 11, 1916, Laws of 1916, ch. 210.

'N orth Carolina, Laws o f 1917, ch 5 9 ; 1919, ch. 240.


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9

CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

a law in 1923 (applicable only to counties o f 90,000 to 100,000 inhab­
itants) making it unlawful to remove a baby under 6 months of age
from the mother for the purpose of placing in a foster home without
the written consent o f the judge o f the children’s court and the
county health officer, and in 1924 passed a law requiring that per­
sons, agencies, or organizations removing from his mother a child
under 6 months of age report to the child-placing bureau of the
State board of public welfare the names and addresses of the persons
taking the child and of the parents of the child. This requirement
does not apply in case the child is known to have been born in
wedlock.8
In order to ascertain, if possible, the effect o f the Maryland law
upon mortality among infants born out of wedlock and upon the
policies and work o f social agencies, the United States Children’s
Bureau made a study in Baltimore of conditions in the year 1921.
One of the bureau’s infant mortality studies had covered babies born
in Baltimore in 1915 (the year before the passage of the law) so
that comparable data for this earlier period were available.
According to findings o f the bureau’s study, infant mortality
among babies born out of wedlock has been markedly reduced in
Baltimore,-both absolutely and in relation to mortality among chil­
dren of legitimate birth. Approximately 1 in every 3 infants born
out o f wedlock in 1915 died before the age o f 1 year, and 1 in every
4 before the age of 6 months. O f the babies born in 1921 only 1 in
every 8 died before the first birthday and only 1 in every 12 before
6 months. Mortality among infants born out of wedlock was reduced
more than 50 per cent between 1915 and 1921, and the rate for infants
o f legitimate birth was reduced less than 20 per cent. In 1915 the
mortality rate among infants born out o f wedlock was almost three
times as high'as the corresponding rate for infants o f legitimate
birth; in 1921 it was one and one-half times as high. The percentage
o f decrease in the mortality rate among infants o f illegitimate birth
was greater (80.4 per cent) for babies o f 1 to 3 months than for any
other age period.9
In Minnesota, under a joint resolution adopted in July, 1918, by
the State board o f health and the board of control, hospitals and ma­
ternity homes must require their patients to nurse infants at the
breast so long as they remain under the care of the institution.
Where nursing by the mother is impossible for any physical reason
exception to this rule may be made by the State board o f health or
State board of control acting upon proper medical advice.9*
The Milwaukee program for keeping mothers and babies together
during a three-months’ nursing period was put into effect in 1919.
In the two-year period, 1916-17, the mortality rate in Milwaukee for
infants born out o f wedlock was 236.8, or 2.3 times the rate for chil­
dren o f legitimate birth. A study of illegitimacy covering the year
ended September 30, 1917, showed that more than half the children
A C IS OI 11/^ 4 ) i'lv * •

o»

_

__

_

_

»T h e W elfare of Infants o f Illegitimate Birth in Baltimore, as affected by a Maryland
law of 1916 governing the separation from their mothers of children under 6 months
old. p. 7. U. S. Children’s Bureau Publication No. 144. Washington, 1925.
»• By a Colorado law (Laws of 1925, ch. 133) maternity hospitals must require unmar­
ried mothers to nurse their babies while in the hospitals if physically able to do so.


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10

CHILDREN OP ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

included in the study had been separated from their mothers and
that 45 per cent o f the children whose ages at the time o f first sepa­
ration were known had been separated within a month after birth.
The executive secretary o f the Juvenile Protective Association, in
describing the results of Milwaukee’s program for unmarried
mothers and babies after it had been two years in operation, com­
ments as follow s:
The results of these measures have been gratifying and far-reaching. The
child-placing organizations and the doctors and other individuals who formerly
brought many babies a few days old into the city to be placed for adoption, are
now required to have permits to board them until they are placed with adoptive
parents. Commercial lying-in hospitals and maternity homes, which formerly
permitted mothers to leave when their babies were only 10 days or 2 weel^ old,
without any effort at breast feeding, must now apply for a permit to keep the
baby without the mother. This requirement gives an opportunity for a social
investigation and for finding a way to keep the mother and baby together, in
the city or elsewhere, during the three months’ nursing period.10

Under the Milwaukee plan applications for separation or for
exemption from the three months’ breast-feeding rule are submitted
to the Juvenile Protective Association. A study o f applications for
separation during the first eight months showed that 69 per cent
o f those who applied for immediate separation were, persuaded
to keep their babies and nurse them, and only 9 per cent of this
group released their children at the end of three months. It has
been the experience o f the association that the appeal to the un­
married mother to nurse her baby at least for the minimum period
of three months as a kind of reparation for having brought him
into the world so handicapped is an almost unfailing argument.
It has been found also that at the end of this period not only has
there been opportunity for a thorough social investigation but the
mother has had a chance to recover from her physical and mental
strain and is more capable o f deciding what she wishes to do for her
baby and for her own rehabilitation.

m

ILLEGITIMACY AS A DEPENDENCY PROBLEM

An important part o f the problem of child dependency is con­
cerned with children born out o f wedlock. These * children are
usually, by the circumstances o f their birth, denied normal home
life and parental care. Illegitimacy contributes largely to the
burden the public must bear for the care and support o f its weaker
members. Factors such as poor health, low mentality, immorality,
and low economic status o f the mother, the father, or the grand­
parents, often make it impossible for the child to be provided for
without the. assistance of social agencies. The fact that in a large
proportion of cases the father contributes either nothing at all or
inadequate amounts results in placing upon the mother a double
burden of care and support.
More than one-third of the children born out o f wedlock in one
large city in one year were under the care o f child-caring or childprotective agencies during infancy. One-sixth of the cases under
care o f private child-caring agencies during one year, one-ninth
10 Illegitimacy as a Child-Welfare Problem— Pt. 3, p. 101.
Publication No. 128. Washington, 1924.

!

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U. S. Children’ s Bureau

m

CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE B IR IH

11

o f the cases under care o f the public child-caring agency o f the
city, and almost one-fourth of those whose care had been assumed
by the State child-caring agency concerned children o f illegitimate
birth.
In most States the child born out of wedlock bears practically the
same relation to the mother, in matters o f support and inheritance,
as the child of legitimate birth; but in practically all States, up to the
present time, it has been held incompatible with the interests of
the legal family to place the child of illegitimate birth upon an
equality with the child born in wedlock with respect to his claims
upon the father. The obligation of the father to give at least a
measure of support to his child born out o f wedlock, however, has
been recognized by the laws of most o f the States. The period over
which support is required and the maximum amounts frequently
specified have in njany cases been entirely inadequate. Even though
the intent of the law is to require fairly adequate provision, the
difficulties of enforcement are very great. These include the reluc­
tance of the mother to reveal the name of the father and to testify
in open court, the absconding pi the father to another State, the
difficulty in obtaining evidence and in establishing the facts, and
compromises out o f court for inadequate sums.
Legislation in the United States compelling the father to con­
tribute to the support of his child born out o f wedlock originated in
the desire to protect the public from the necessity of supporting
such children rather than in concern for their welfare. Although
•this principle had been somewhat modified in favor of the mother
and the child, few radical changes were made until recent years.
Within the last decade there has been a marked change in social
emphasis, the child’s welfare being made the predominant considera­
tion, accompanied by the recognition of the State’s responsibility.
Laws in accordance w th this trend have already been enacted in
some States, and in a number of others bills embodying radical
changes have been given serious consideration. (See pp. 16-20.)
Support is sometimes obtained without court action through the
efforts of social agencies or otherwise. However, studies have shown
that the father’s responsibility for the support of his child is assumed
in only a small proportion o f the cases coming to the attention of
social agencies, and usually only to a limited extent. That so many
children born out of wedlock are deprived o f support from their
fathers has serious implications in regard to chance for survival,
health, and opportunities for normal childhood. For three cities the
percentages o f cases o f children under 2 years of age known to social
agencies (including maternity homes and hospitals) in which the
father had made any contribution to the support o f the child were:
Boston, 38 per cent; Milwaukee, 36 per cent; and Philadelphia, 40
per cent.11
The ability of the father to assume his legal obligations for the
support of his child, aside from the very important item of his
willingness to do so, is indicated to some extent by data concerning
the marital status, age, and occupation of the father. Perhaps the
most important factor is marital condition, as related to his obligation
to support a legal family. In this respect, and also as an indication
Ibid. P. 244^


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12

CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

o f the character o f the fathers, it is extremely significant that studies
including 2,183 fathers showed approximately one-third to be mar­
ried, widowed, divorced, or separated. For five studies—three in
Boston, one in Philadelphia, and one in Milwaukee—the percentages
of fathers reported as married, widowed, divorced, separated, or
deserting were as follow s: 15, 27, 28, 31, and 42, respectively.12
THE FACTORS IN THE PROBLEM IN RELATION TO PREVENTIVE
SOCIAL MEASURES

In considering illegitimate parenthood from the point of view of
reduction o f the problem it is necessary to analyze the factors that
lead to the condition. Girls and women who become mothers out of
wedlock may be divided into the following types: (a) The mentally
subnormal girl who lacks controlling inhibitory instincts and is an
easy victim because of helplessness; (5) the young, susceptible girl,
unprotected from dangers, who gets into trouble because of lack o f
understanding, or through force; (c) the more mature young woman
of good character who is led by false promises or who weakly or
rashly follows an instinct that under other conditions would have
been normal and social; ( d) the really delinquent girl or woman,
who knowingly chooses antisocial conduct, her illegitimate maternity
being only an incidental evidence of repeated immorality. The last
type is undoubtedly recruited to a considerable extent from the pre­
ceding ones. The fathers include young boys who equally with
the mothers need constructive help, and older men, many of whom
are married, widowed, divorced, or separated, and have children of
legitimate birth dependent upon them for supportPreventive and reconstructive measures must be based on knowl­
edge o f how the individuals composing the antisocial group deviate—
inherently or accidentally— from the average (that for want of a
better measure is considered the normal). H<fw much o f the illegiti­
mate parenthood represented by approximately 60,000 births annu­
ally in the United States may properly be attributed to moral delin­
quency, and what measures can be undertaken to lessen the problem ?
There can be no general rule for handling this problem. Each case
represents a variety o f conditions and must be dealt with individ­
ually. But in this, as in other social problems requiring individual
treatment, certain general facts emerge from study of the back­
ground o f illegitimate parenthood, and these indicate underlying
conditions that should be recognized and dealt with.
AGES

OF MOTHERS

Undoubtedly the individual and social maladjustments frequently
accompanying adolescence are significant factors in illegitimate
maternity. Unmarried mothers are for the most part young mothers,
and a considerable proportion are girls in their teens. A comparison
is shown in Table 4 o f the ages of married and unmarried white
mothers o f first-born children, based on data obtained from field
studies of infant mortality in four cities and from studies of illegiti­
macy in one of these cities and in three others: 13
“ Ibid., p. 243.
18
The percentage of foreign born among the total female white population of the two
groups of cities was approximately the same.


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CHILDREN OE ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

•

13

T able 4.— Percentage distribution o f married and unmarried white mothers of
first-born children, by age

Percentage distri­
bution
Age

Under 18 years_____
18 years, under 21........
21 years, under 25.........

Married
white
mothers
(4,116)1

Un­
married
white
mothers
(1,486) 2

5
27
39

17
30
39

Percentage distri­
bution
Age

25 years, under 30..........
30 years, under 35____
35 years and over___

Un­
Married
married
white
white
mothers
(4,116) » mothers
(1,486) 2
21
6
2

10
1

1In Baltimore, Gary, New Bedford, and Waterbury
1 In Baltimore, Boston, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia.

It is seen that slightly more than one-sixth o f the mothers out o f
wedlock were under 18 years o f age. O f the group that may be
considered ‘ normal,” that is, conforming to law and custom, only
one-twentieth were under this age. In the next age group there is
very little difference—the proportion of unmarried mothers 18 to 20
years of age being 3 per cent higher than the proportion of married
mothers. The proportions in the 21 to 24 year groups are the same,
but in the 25 to 30 year group the proportion o f unmarried mothers
is 11 per cent lower than the proportion of married mothers. It
must be remembered that first births only are included for both
groups.
These age figures show the importance o f preventive and protec­
tive work which will safeguard young girls from undesirable influ­
ences and develop in them judgment and stability o f character.
Herein lies the most hopeful possibility for the reduction o f ille­
gitimacy and the delinquencies with which it is allied.
l o r 1,576 fathers o f children born out o f wedlock, included in
studies in various localities, information concerning age was ob­
tained : The percentage distribution was as follows : 14
Age of fathers
Per cent
Total---------------------------------- 100.0
Under 18 years________________

3. 5

Age of fathers
per cent
19.4
18 years, under 21 _________ ■.___
21 years, under 25_____________
39 .1
25 years and over______________
38. 0

It is not possible to compare the ages of these fathers with the ages
of married fathers. Nearly one-fourth, as compared with almost
half the mothers, were under 21.
M ENTALITY OF MOTHER

Inferior mentality and psychopathic traits are without doubt o f
importance as predisposing factors, though early estimates o f the
proportion o f unmarried mothers who were feeble-minded were
undoubtedly overstatements. Few reliable figures are available con­
cerning the extent of mental defect among unmarried mothers, and
it is obviously impossible to obtain comparable figures as to men14 niegitimacy as a Child-W elfare Problem.— P t 3, pp. 48, 109, 210.


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14

CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

tality for the group conforming to social customs—the married
mothers. No information has been obtained concerning the mentality
of the fathers.
Proportions o f mothers who had been diagnosed as feeble-minded,
subnormal, or insane, as reported in various studies, range from 4
to 16 per cent. These percentages are based upon the total number
o f mothers included in the studies, a large proportion of whom had
not been given mental examinations.15
Emphasis has often been placed on the possibility of preventing
a part of this problem through adequate provision for the mentally
subnormal. Analysis of data concerning child-mothers shows that
more than one-fifth were known to be not normal mentally.16 O f the
girls 15 years o f age and under, 30 per cent were so reported. The
need is urgent for protecting these young girls, who are especially
defenseless because lacking in intelligence. It has been shown for
four large cities that one-sixth of the unmarried mothers were under
18 years of age; the significance of the proportion of low mentality
among them is obvious.
PREVIOUS CHARACTER OF MOTHERS

Often illegitimate maternity is part of a career o f immorality and
other delinquencies induced by bad environment, absence of healthful
forms of recreation, and unprotected youth. From one-fourth to al­
most two-thirds o f the mothers included in a number of studies were
reported to have been morally delinquent or of otherwise poor char­
acter in addition to the experience resulting in the birth o f a child
out of wedlock,17 and two-thirds o f a group of over 700 fathers known
to Boston agencies were so reported.18 In a group of 320 girls under
the age of 18 years for whom there was information as to character,
almost half were known to have been delinquents previous to this
experience, and one-third o f the whole number were known to have
been immoral previously. Apparently the difficulty began in early
adolescence in a large proportion o f cases.
OCCUPATIONAL STATUS OF MOTHERS

A comparison was made of the occupations of unmarried mothers
previous to the birth of the child and o f all gainfully employed
women in Boston.19 O f almost 700 unmarried mothers, 86 per cent
had been gainfully employed before the child’s birth. O f the unmar­
ried mothers 16 to 20 years of age at the time of the child’s birth,
83 per cent were engaged in gainful occupations; only 60 per cent
of the same age group in the general population were gainfully
employed.
The figures as to occupational'status show that unmarried mothers
are for the most part young wage earners in the less skilled occu16 Ibid. p. 241 (mothers under care of Massachusetts State Infirmary not included).
16 From data obtained in Boston and Massachusetts for the report Illegitimacy as a
Child-Welfare Problem— Pt. 2, p. 113 (U. S. Children’s Bureau Publication No. 75, W ash­
ington, 1 9 2 1 ).
,,
’ < " \ . ...
17 Illegitimacy as a Child-W elfare Problem— Pt. 3, p. 241.
19
T h e ’figures’ for unmarried women relate to 1914, and the figures for all'em ployed
women were derived from the Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910.


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CHILDREN OP ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

15

pations. Almost a third of all gainfully employed women in Boston
were classed as semiskilled workers; the percentage among the
unmarried mothers was the same. But 16 per cent of all wage­
earning women were factory operatives— an occupation within the
semiskilled group— compared with 27 per cent of the unmarried
mothers. The most striking discrepancy is found in the percentages
in domestic and personal service—25 per cent of all working women
compared with 55 per cent of the unmarried mothers were so
employed.
Statistics relating to the occupation of the father indicate that
in the communities studied almost half were semiskilled workers,
laborers, or servants, though a large percentage were skilled workers
or clerks and kindred workers.20
HOME CONDITIONS OF MOTHERS

The incidence of broken homes or abnormal home conditions is
an important causative factor in all forms of delinquency. In three
cities where analyses were made of the histories of unmarried moth­
ers coming to the attention of social agencies, 31 per cent, 49 per
cent, and 71 per cent, respectively, came from homes broken through
the death of one or both parents, or through divorce, separation, or
desertion, or were foreign-born mothers whose parents had never
been in the United States.21
The close relation between home conditions and delinquency is
brought out in analysis o f the histories of 320 unmarried mothers
under 18 years of age. In ovor half the cases in which the girls had
been immoral, otherwise delinquent, or o f poor character, aside from
the experience which had brought them within the scope o f the study,
the parents were delinquent or of poor character, or had been de­
pendent upon charity. Where both parents were living and were
present in the home 55 per cent of the girls were reported to have
been o f good character and 45 per cent of poor character. Where^
conditions were abnormal 49 per cent of the girls had been of good
character and 51 per cent had not. These figures point to what is
probably the most fundamental of the underlying causes—low stand­
ards o f family life and the absence of wholesome home influences.
Even before the special need for care occasioned by illegitimate
maternity a large number o f these child-mothers had required care
and protection outside their own homes. Forty o f the 320 girls had
been in correctional institutions or before courts; 43 had been wards
o f child-caring agencies; and 10 had been under care both as delin­
quent and as dependent children.
The need for the following preventive social measures is indicated:
(a) Proper care and protection o f the mentally subnormal; (b) edu­
cation in sex hygiene; ( c) safeguarding of recreation and provision
o f wholesome activities into which the normal instincts of youth may
be directed; (d) development of school programs for dealing with
problems of maladjustment and conduct; (e) adequate provision for
20
Illegitimacy as a Child-Welfare Problem-f-Pt. 3, p. 244. In Baltimore, a city hav­
ing a large negro population, two-thirds of the fathers were semiskilled workers, laborers,
or servants.


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CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

supervision in the community and for institutional care directed
toward reeducation for delinquent young people o f both sexes; and
( / ) legal provision for holding both mothers and fathers to their
responsibilities toward their children born out of wedlock.
CONSTRUCTIVE LEGISLATION

The laws of the Scandinavian countries relating to children born
out of wedlock are recognized as setting standards in advance of
those prevailing in most countries. In considering the extent to
which the legislation of any country may be used as a guide in fram­
ing laws for the United States differences in legal systems and
social conditions must be borne in mind.
The Norwegian law that became effective January 1, 1916, gives
a child born out o f wedlock the same right o f inheritance that is
given a child of legitimate birth. The responsibility for maintenance
is placed upon both parents in accordance with the economic status
o f the one more favorably situated. The law requires the compul­
sory reporting of pregnancy by the physician or midwife consulted
and o f the birth of a child out o f wedlock by the physician or midwife
or by the mother. Upon receipt of the notice the local police au­
thority reports to the superior magistrate, who issues a citation upon
the man named as father. I f the alleged father does not admit
paternity he must make application to institute an action o f paternity
or else be held liable as the father.22
The Swedish law, which went into effect January 1, 1918, gives
no right of inheritance from the father except in the case of
“ betrothal children ” but places the •responsibility for support on
both parents. The economic circumstances of both are to be taken
into account. The mother is given the custody and legal guardian­
ship of the child, unless otherwise ordained by the court. The parent
not having the care of the child is to meet the expenses of his main­
tenance. A woman with child out of wedlock must report her con
dition to the “ guardian official ” of the parish or to the person
commissioned by him. Immediately upon receipt of such report or
o f information that a child has been born out of wedlock, the guard­
ian official must designate a suitable man or woman as guardian of
the child. It is made the duty of the guardian to assist the mother
with counsel and information and to see that the child’s rights and
welfare are properly safeguarded. It is especially incumbent upon
him to see that steps are taken immediately for the determination
of paternity and status and for insuring the child’s support. In
the trial the burden of proof is on the complainant and not on the
alleged father, as in Norway, unless formal acknowledgment of
paternity has been made previously. The guardian is to assist in
fixing the amount of support and in securing payments.23
Legislation in the United States providing for support by the
father for his child born out of wedlock was modeled largely after
English bastardy legislation, and few significant changes occurred
until within the last few years. The Minnesota law of 1917 is among
23 Svensk Forfattningssamling. 1917 N : r. 376. Lag on barn utom aktenskap : given
Leifur Magnusson. U . S. Children’ s Bureau Publication No. 31. Washington, 1918.
23 Svensk Forfattningssambling. 1917. N : r. 376. Lag om barn utom aktenskap : given
Stockholm® Slott den 14 juni, 1917.


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CHILDREN OP ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

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the most practical and far-reaching yet enacted in the United States
and embodies in large part the features of the best foreign laws,
so far as they were considered applicable to conditions in this coun­
try. It includes an emphatic declaration of the State’s responsibility
for the welfare of children born out o f wedlock:
This chapter shall be liberally construed with a view to effecting its purpose,
which is primarily to safeguard the interest of illegitimate children and secure
for them the nearest possible approximation to the care, support, and educa­
tion that they would be entitled to receive if born of lawful marriage, which
purpose is hereby acknowledged and declared to be the duty of the State.24

Under the Minnesota law the person adjudged the father is placed
under all the obligations imposed by law upon the father of the
child of legitimate birth. Upon the State board of control are im­
posed definite responsibilities for the protection of children born out
of wedlock. The work that is being done and the results that have
already been obtained by the various county boards of child welfare
in this State are worthy of special attention as important accom­
plishments in the reduction o f child dependency and neglect.
At the request of the Inter-City Conference on Illegitimacy, the
Children’s Bureau in February, 1920, called two regional con­
ferences, one in Chicago, representing the Middle West, and the
other in New York, representing the eastern part of the country.
Representatives o f public departments, executives and case workers
of child-caring agencies, judges, lawyers, probation officers, and others
who had been invited to attend because of their special interest
in the problem under consideration, were present at the conferences.
Although attendance at each of the two-day conferences was limited,
21 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada were represented,
the delegates coming from a total of 35 cities.
The conferences dealt with the broad basic principles of legislation
for the protection of children born out of wedlock, from the points
of view of the lawyer and of the social worker; with methods o f
establishing parentage, types of court procedure, and the responsi­
bility o f the father and of the mother; and with the extent to which
the State should assume guardianship, or supervision over children
o f illegitimate birth. The rights and responsibilities of the child,
the mother, the father, and the State were discussed. It was
generally agreed that the welfare of the child is of greatest concern.
The necessity of flexibility o f machinery and methods and individual
case work was pointed out. At the last meeting of each conference
a resolutions committee of five members submitted a report which
was discussed and acted upon by the whole group.
Although in some instances one conference went further than the
other, there is remarkable unanimity in the resolutions adopted by
the two groups, and the main recommendations are here summarized
together:
1. Birth registration.—All births should be registered, but in
case of an illegitimate birth the name of the father should be
recorded on the birth certificate only after an adjudication of
paternity or on the written consent of the father. Adjudications o f
paternity should be reported by courts to the birth-registration
authorities. Records o f birth out o f wedlock should be confidential,
»M in n esota. Laws of 1917, ch. 210, amending Gen. Stat. 1913 by adding sec. 3225 (d ).


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CHILDREN OF ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

open to inspection only upon order o f court, and transcripts for
school or work purposes should not disclose any facts concerning
birth status.
2. Reporting to administrative agency.—All births not clearly
legitimate should be reported to a public agency having the
responsibility for child welfare.
3. Establishment of paternity.—Proceedings to establish paternity
should be initiated by the mother. I f she is unwilling, and the public
agency above referred to deems it advisable in the interest o f the
child, proceedings should be instituted by the public agency. The
law should provide for the use of either a civil or a criminal pro­
ceeding, as the exigencies of the case demand. The court given
jurisdiction should be equipped with a staff o f probation officers
or other social case workers, and the proceedings should be as
informal and private as possible.
The father’s responsibility for the support of the child.—The
resolutions o f the middle-western conference stated that “ the father
of a child born out of wedlock should make financial provision for
the adequate care, maintenance, and education of the child, having
reference to the father’s economic condition.” The resolutions of the
eastern conference included the statement that “ the obligations for
support on the part of the father should be the same for the child
born out o f wedlock as for the legitimate child.” Both conferences
agreed that the court should have continuing jurisdiction with refer­
ence to both custody and support during the minority of the child,
that the acceptance of lump-sum payments should be in the discre­
tion of the court, and that settlements out of court in order to be
valid should be approved by the court.
5. Inherita/nce and name.—After an adjudication of paternity or
an acknowledgment in writing by the father the child born out of
wedlock should have the same rights of inheritance as the child born
in wedlock. Assumption o f the name o f the father should be per­
missive after adjudication o f paternity or acknowledgment in writ­
ing by the father.
6. Legitimation.— The resolutions of the eastern conference stated
that subsequent marriage o f the parents should legitimate the child
born out o f wedlock and that offspring o f a void or voidable mar­
riage should be by law legitimate.
7. Care by the mother.—Whenever possible the mother should be
persuaded to keep her child during the nursing period at least, but
the enactment o f compulsory legislation was not recommended.
8. State supervision.— The duty of the State to protect the in­
terests of children born out o f wedlock was recognized and affirmed.
The conferences recommended the creation, with due allowance for
local variance and need, of State departments having responsibility
for child welfare, whose duties should include responsibility for
assisting unmarried mothers and their children. The parents should
not be permitted to surrender a child for adoption, or to transfer
guardianship, or to place him out permanently for care, without
order o f a court or a State department, made after investigation.
The State should license and supervise private hospitals that receive
unmarried mothers for confinement and all private child-helping
and child-placing agencies. Full opportunity should be afforded,


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however, for the development of private initiative, and there should
be cordial cooperation between private agencies and the State.
In August, 1920, the National Conference o f Commissioners on
Uniform State Laws, at the request of the Children’s Bureau, ap­
pointed a committee to consider illegitimacy legislation and to sug­
gest a model law that might be followed by the various States with
such modifications as might be found necessary to suit local condi­
tions. At its 1922 annual meeting the conference approved a “ uni­
form illegitimacy act ” and recommended it to the States for
adoption.28
The bill as recommended deals entirely with the obligation o f the
parents for the child’s support, except that a section is included
which eliminates unnecessary reference to illegitimacy in records,
certificates, and other papers. Questions relating to the registration
o f illegitimate births are not included, because they have been cov­
ered in the model birth registration law proposed by the commis­
sioners on uniform State laws. Items concerning status—inheritance,
legitimation, the right to the father’s name—were included in the
first draft which was considered at the 1921 meeting but were later
omitted because o f the opposition that arose to a number of the
provisions.
The initial statement of the bill is practically identical with the
corresponding section of the Norwegian law: “ The parents o f a
child born out of wedlock and not legitimated owe the child neces­
sary maintenance, education, and support.” The uniform law makes
the father liable for the expenses o f the mother’s pregnancy and
confinement. The obligations of the parents to support the child
under the laws for the support of poor relatives are also made to
aPPty
children born out of wedlock. The obligation of the father,
where his paternity has been judicially established in his lifetime or
has' been acknowledged by him, is enforceable against his estate—
in such amount as the court may determine, haying regard to various
factors specified relative to the child, his mother, and the father’s
lawful family.
Action may be undertaken against the father by the mother, her
legal representative, a third person furnishing support, or the au­
thorities charged with the child’s support, should he become de­
pendent. The support judgment is to be for annual amounts, equal
or varying, until the child reaches the age of 16 years. Payments
are to be made to the mother or to a trustee. The court has continu­
ing jurisdiction over proceedings brought to compel support and may
increase or decrease the amount, and also has continuing jurisdiction
to determine custody in accordance with the interests of the child.
In default of security, when required, instead of committing the
father to jail, or as a condition of release from jail, the court may
commit him to the custody o f a probation officer, upon such terms
regarding payments and personal reports as the court may direct.
One o f the most important clauses in the sections relating to pro­
ceedings to compel support states that agreement or compromise
concerning the support o f the child shall be binding upon the mother
55 Uniform illegitimacy act, drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on
Uniform State Laws, and by it approved and recommended for enactment in all the
States at its conference at San Francisco, Calif., Aug. 2 -8 , 1922.


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CHILDREN OP ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH

or child only when adequate provision is fully secured by payment
or otherwise and when approved by a court having jurisdiction to
compel support o f the child. This safeguard is an evident need in
many States.
In 1923 the principles of the uniform act were incorporated into
the laws o f North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Arizona,
and in 1925 they were adopted in Iowa. Various legal and social
organizations have been active in educational work to promote public
recognition o f this measure for the reduction o f child dependency
and neglect. It has influenced legislation in States which have not
adopted it but which have amended their statutes in certain respects.
Important as is legislation in obtaining justice and opportunity
for children handicapped by their birth status, the attitude of society
as a whole, especially of persons engaged in constructive social work,
is o f fundamental importance. The problem will not be dealt with
adequately until there is more general recognition of the right of the
child to care and support from his parents, whenever such provision
is possible, and of the necessity for the most careful and unbiased
work with each individual case. When the meaning to the individual
child o f birth out of wedlock and the burden that is imposed upon the
State as a result of this problem are more fully recognized, there will
be demanded for each child the support and protection to which all
the children are equally entitled.
The child-welfare standards adopted by the Washington and
regional conferences on child welfare held under the auspices o f the
Children’s Bureau in May, 1919, include a statement o f measures that
may help to give the child born out o f wedlock a square deal:
The child born out of wedlock constitutes a very serious problem, and for
this reason special safeguards should be provided.
Save for unusual reasons both parents should be held responsible for the
child during his minority, and especially should the responsibility of the father,
be emphasized.
Care of the child by his mother is highly desirable, particularly during the
nursing months.
No parent of a child born out of wedlock should be permitted to surrender
the child outside his own family, save with the consent of a properly designated
State department or a court of proper jurisdiction.
Each State should make suitable provision of a humane character for estab­
lishing paternity and guaranteeing to children born out of wedlock the rights
naturally belonging to children born in wedlock. The fathers of such children
should be under the same financial responsibilities and the same legal liabilities
toward their children as other fathers. The administration of the courts with
reference to such cases should be so regulated as not only to protect the legal
rights of the mother and child but also to avoid unnecessary publicity and
humiliation.
The treatment of the unmarried mother and her child should include the best
medical supervision and should be so directed as to afford the widest oppor­
tunity for wholesome, normal life.29
28 Minimum Standards for Child W elfare, Adopted by the Washington and Regional
Conferences on Child Welfare, 1919, p. 13. U. S. Children’s Bureau Publication No. 62.
Washington, 1920.


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