EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the correct percent reduction of teen births between the 2006-2010 Census and the 2011-2015 Census.

Young people are waiting longer to settle down, and some are not doing it at all.

When they do, they are having children at a slower rate than their predecessors, according to data from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey snapshot.

The median age of first marriage in New Jersey has increased about a year since the 2006-2010 survey. At the same time, the number of male and female residents who have never been married has increased 5 percent.

Large cities such as New Brunswick, Camden and Newark have some of the highest percentages of never-married residents.

Young adults have been held back by the recession and continuing financial issues, said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Many come out of college with large amounts of student debt, and are forced to live with their parents due to New Jersey's high housing costs.

Others are happy being young and unattached, he said. They would rather live in millennial hotspots and enjoy the nice lifestyle in places like Jersey City.

"It's sort of an extended period of adolescence," he said.

Many state residents are often opting to live together rather than tie the knot. In 2011-2015, there were 30,000 more residents living in unmarried families than in 2006-2010.

Most of that increase came from opposite-sex couples. Same-sex couples saw a small decrease in unmarried partnerships since the October 2013 legalization of same-sex marriage.

Both married and unmarried New Jersey women are having fewer children. Roughly 105,000 women had had a birth in the past 12 months in the 2011-2015 Census, a drop of 14,000 from the 2006-2010 Census.

Young residents, even after tying the knot, frequently have to delay buying a home and continue to experience financial instability, Hughes said.

"It all feeds back to delaying marriage and delaying children," he said.

This drop is already being reflected in declining school enrollment, according to New Jersey Department of Education figures.

The minority population in the state is buoying fertility rates. White women in New Jersey had births at a rate of 44 per 1,000 women, compared to 59 per 1,000 Hispanic women or 51 per 1,000 black women.

Low birth rates could have financial implications down the road, Hughes said, as Baby Boomers retire and begin receiving Social Security and benefits payments.

"We should be producing workers to pay taxes into the system," he said. "Ultimately this increase will be a real drain on our trust fund."

Meanwhile, the fertility rate for teenagers fell 44 percent, signifying a positive shift in teen births parallel to the rest of the United States.

Erin Petenko may be reached at epetenko@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @EPetenko. Find NJ.com on Facebook.