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Title: Maternal Union Status and Youth Educational Attainment: Does Age at Birth Matter?
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Sassler, Sharon Williams, Kristi Addo, Fenaba Frech, Adrianne Cooksey, Elizabeth C. |
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Maternal Union Status and Youth Educational Attainment: Does Age at Birth Matter? Presented: Paris, France, EUCCONET/Society For Longitudinal And Life Course Studies International Conference, October 2012 Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult Publisher: Society for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Age at Birth; Cohabitation; Fertility; High School Completion/Graduates; Marital History/Transitions; Marital Status; Parents, Single Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. In 2008, 41% of all births in the United States occurred outside of marriage. Children born to unmarried mothers are often disadvantaged in young adulthood, including being less likely to graduate high school. In recent years, the age composition of mothers has changed; teen births declined substantially, and non-marital births are now most heavily concentrated among women in their twenties. This paper examines whether maternal age at birth differentiates the educational outcomes of children, and if this varies by maternal marital status. Data are from the linked Children and Young Adult sample of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79). We find significant differences in the likelihood of high school graduation among youth born to a never-married versus a married mother. These disparities remain even after including controls for maternal age at birth, as well as social and economic characteristics of mothers prior to the birth. The marital status gap in the likelihood of graduating from high school among youth born to older mothers is far narrower than for youth whose mothers were either teenagers or in their early 20s when they were born, though this finding is limited to white youth. Impacts for racial educational disparities are discussed. |
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Bibliography Citation
Sassler, Sharon, Kristi Williams, Fenaba Addo, Adrianne Frech and Elizabeth C. Cooksey. "Maternal Union Status and Youth Educational Attainment: Does Age at Birth Matter?" Presented: Paris, France, EUCCONET/Society For Longitudinal And Life Course Studies International Conference, October 2012. |