Illinois

Demographics and Health Care

In 2006, 50.8 percent of the state's population was female. In 2006, there were 180,503 births in the state. Of those births, 53 percent were non-Hispanic white mothers, 17 percent were African American mothers, 5 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander mothers, and 24 percent were Latina mothers. That same year, the birth rate—the number of births per every 1,000 people in the state—was 14. The teen birth rate—the number of births per every 1,000 person in the state aged 15–19—was 39. This rate declined 40 percent between 1991 and 2005.

In 2005, 87 percent of white women, 72 percent of African American women, and 78 percent of Latina mothers began their prenatal care in the first trimester of their pregnancies. The overall rate of 82 percent is greater than the percentage of U.S. mothers (78 percent). In the midst of a growing number of pharmacists who refused to fill prescriptions for birth control and emergency contraception, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich filed a rule in 2005 that required that Illinois pharmacies accept and dispense all such prescriptions promptly. Two years later, he enacted legislation that required private insurance companies in Illinois to cover FDA-approved birth control devices and services. In 2005, 33,380 divorces and annulments took place in Illinois, which is a rate of 2.6 for every 1,000 person in the population.

An estimated 81.4 percent of Illinois residents aged 25 and older and 81.8 percent of women residents aged 25 and older hold at least a high school diploma or equivalent, greater than the U.S. rate of 80.4 percent of residents and 80.7 percent of women residents having at least a high school diploma. Moreover, 26.1 percent of Illinois residents aged 25 and older and 24.5 percent of women residents aged 25 and older hold at least a bachelor's degree. These percentages are also greater than those for the U.S. population, which are 24.4 percent for residents and 22.8 percent for women residents.

Illinois is the birthplace and/or home of some famous mothers: Mary Harris “Mother” Jones (1837–1930), labor organizer; Ida B. Wells-Bar-nett (1862–1931), suffragist and cofounder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Katherine Dunham (1909–2006), dancer and choreographer; Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000), poet; Elizabeth “Betty” Ford (1918–), former First Lady; Betty Friedan (1921–2006), activist and writer; Carol Moseley Braun (1947–), Senator; Hillary Rodham Clinton (1947–), former First Lady and Senator; and Michelle Obama (1964–), First Lady.

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