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Title: The Impact of Teenage Childbearing on Selected Indicators of Women's Economic Well-Being in Early Adulthood: A Decade Comparison
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Rudd, Nancy M.
Nah, Myungkyun
The Impact of Teenage Childbearing on Selected Indicators of Women's Economic Well-Being in Early Adulthood: A Decade Comparison
In: Families in Transition: Structural Changes and Effects on Family Life. R. Walker, ed., Alexandria, VA: American Home Economics Association, 1989
Cohort(s): NLSY79, Young Women
Publisher: American Home Economics Association, now: American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Birth Rate; Childbearing; Childbearing, Adolescent; Educational Attainment; Parents, Single; Racial Differences; Welfare

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

Data from the NLSY and Young Women's cohorts were analyzed to determine whether the impact of teenage childbearing on white and black women's subsequent educational attainment, experience as a single parent, and contact with the welfare system had changed between the 1970s and 1980s. Results indicate that the general pattern of relationships between predictor variables and the above dependent variables remained the same but that the magnitude of effects has changed. Despite the fact that the birth rate to teenagers went down substantially in the U.S. during this time period, results indicate that for those who do become teen mothers there continues to be a substantial cost in the form of foregone education, increased time spent as a single parent, and increased contact with the welfare system. However, results suggest that the amount of foregone education may have declined slightly for blacks and that the impact of a teen birth on time spent as a single parent has increased considerably. However, this increase in single parenthood associated with a teen birth may not have translated into increased welfare use. Whether this tentative finding reflects the more stringent eligibility requirements for AFDC implemented in the early 1980s or a more economically diverse population of single parent mothers, as a result of the considerable increase in the size of this population, cannot be determined from the data.
Bibliography Citation
Rudd, Nancy M. and Myungkyun Nah. "The Impact of Teenage Childbearing on Selected Indicators of Women's Economic Well-Being in Early Adulthood: A Decade Comparison" In: Families in Transition: Structural Changes and Effects on Family Life. R. Walker, ed., Alexandria, VA: American Home Economics Association, 1989