In the United States, new moms are increasingly older, better educated and born in other countries, a new study found, and these shifts promise to change child care, preschool and pre-kindergarten.

Perhaps the most influential shift in motherhood for early learning was that the percentage of U.S. births by foreign-born mothers jumped to 24 percent in 2004 from 15 percent in 1990, according to the Pew Research Center report. While this development’s impact is still emerging, it appears to support even more outreach efforts to immigrant communities. (For one great example, check out the outreach doula program for Somali and Latina communities in White Center, one of the two Thrive by Five Washington Demonstration Communities.)

“According to Pew Research Center population projections, 82% of the nation's population growth through 2050 will be accounted for by immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after 2005 and their descendants, assuming current trends continue. Of the 142 million people added to the population from 2005 to 2050, according to the projections, 50 million will be the children or grandchildren of new immigrants.” – The New Demography of American Motherhood, 5/6/10.

In another development that could influence child care, a large percentage of new moms are single. In 1998, 28 percent of births were to single women. By 2008, the number had jumped to 41 percent.

The growing ranks of older moms is well known – the birth rate of women age 40 and older has tripled since 1990 – and not surprisingly new moms are better educated today. A majority (54 percent) of new moms had some college education, compared to 41 percent in 1990, and 71 percent of moms age 35 and older had spent some time at college, according to the report.

Another interesting development was that while the U.S. birthrate stood at or only “slightly below” the replacement rate needed to match the current generation of parents, it was above many developed nations, Pew found.

Finally, the vast majority of parents (87 percent) said they had their first baby for "the joy of having children.”

What does this mean for early learning? It isn’t exactly clear, but if more new moms are born in other countries, single, older and better educated, some elements of child care are bound to change. For starters, the demographic shifts are a call for more research into the changing nature of motherhood. (You can check out the full report here.)

Thanks to MomsRising for highlighting this new report in Who Is Giving Birth in the U.S.?