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Author: Edwards, Debra Ann
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Edwards, Debra Ann
Social Class and Racial Differences in the Antecedents of Unwed Adolescent Childbearing
Ph.D. Dissertation, Arizona State University, 1993
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Black Studies; Childbearing, Adolescent; Ethnic Studies; Family Studies; Fertility; Parents, Single; Poverty; Racial Differences; Racial Studies; Work Knowledge

Although the number of births to unwed teen mothers has been declining over the past two decades, the social and economic consequences of unwed teenage motherhood are quite high. The adolescent mother suffers from long-term lowered educational and occupational attainment. By some estimates, she is expected to lose seventy-five percent of her lifetime income compared to women who postpone childbearing until their twenties. The adolescent mother is also more likely to be in poverty and receive public assistance. The social costs of adolescent motherhood include welfare and AFDC payments and neonatal medical expenses and are estimated at over 16 billion dollars annually. Previous research has discovered higher rates of pregnancy for minorities and lower class youths and have found many predictors of adolescent motherhood. Some researchers have found that these predictors vary by race, while others have focused on social class but, to date, no one has looked at the combined effects of race and social class in determining differences in predictors of teen motherhood. It is expected that there are different factors motivating black lower class teens to choose unwed motherhood than those that motivate Black middle class or White lower class teens. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study found several differences as well as similarities in predictors of teenage motherhood across race, social class and ethnic class.
Bibliography Citation
Edwards, Debra Ann. Social Class and Racial Differences in the Antecedents of Unwed Adolescent Childbearing. Ph.D. Dissertation, Arizona State University, 1993.