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Title: Family Structure and Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood: How Children Born to Unwed Mothers Fare
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Williams, Kristi
Addo, Fenaba
Frech, Adrianne
Family Structure and Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood: How Children Born to Unwed Mothers Fare
Presented: Washington, DC, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March 31-April 2, 2011
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Bias Decomposition; CESD (Depression Scale); Cohabitation; Coresidence; Educational Outcomes; Family Structure; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Marital Status; Mothers, Adolescent; Parents, Single; Pregnancy, Adolescent

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Research indicates that being raised in a family that does not include both biological parents is associated with a range of poor outcomes in childhood. This literature has focused primarily on children in divorced families. Less is known about the well-being of children born to single mothers, especially when they reach young adulthood. This paper explores how young adults born to single mothers fare in young adulthood, focusing on high school graduating and teen parenthood. 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 graduating from high school and experiencing a teen birth for those born to a never-married versus a married mother. Among those born to single mothers, there are few differences between those who remain in stable, single mother families and those whose mothers marry or cohabit.
Bibliography Citation
Williams, Kristi, Fenaba Addo and Adrianne Frech. "Family Structure and Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood: How Children Born to Unwed Mothers Fare." Presented: Washington, DC, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March 31-April 2, 2011.