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Examining the Antecedents of U.S. Nonmarital Fatherhood

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  • Marcia Carlson
  • Alicia VanOrman
  • Natasha Pilkauskas

Abstract

Despite the dramatic rise in U.S. nonmarital childbearing in recent decades, limited attention has been paid to factors affecting nonmarital fatherhood (beyond studies of young fathers). In this article, we use data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort to examine the antecedents of nonmarital fatherhood, as compared to marital fatherhood. Overall, we find the strongest support across both data sets for education and race/ethnicity as key predictors of having a nonmarital first birth, consistent with prior literature about women’s nonmarital childbearing and about men’s early/teenage fatherhood. Education is inversely related to the risk of nonmarital fatherhood, and minority (especially black) men are much more likely to have a child outside of marriage than white men. We find little evidence that employment predicts nonmarital fertility, although it does strongly (and positively) predict marital fertility. High predicted earnings are also associated with a greater likelihood of marital childbearing but with a lower likelihood of nonmarital childbearing. Given the socioeconomic disadvantage associated with nonmarital fatherhood, this research suggests that nonmarital fatherhood may be an important aspect of growing U.S. inequality and stratification both within and across generations. Copyright Population Association of America 2013

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  • Marcia Carlson & Alicia VanOrman & Natasha Pilkauskas, 2013. "Examining the Antecedents of U.S. Nonmarital Fatherhood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1421-1447, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:50:y:2013:i:4:p:1421-1447
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-013-0201-9
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    1. Alessandra Trimarchi & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Pathways to marital and non-marital first birth: the role of his and her education," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 15(1), pages 143-179.
    2. Alessandra Trimarchi & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Education and the Transition to Fatherhood: The Role of Selection Into Union," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 119-144, February.
    3. Fletcher, Jason M. & Polos, Jessica, 2017. "Nonmarital and Teen Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 10833, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Lincoln H. Groves, 2016. "Welfare Reform and Labor Force Exit by Young, Low-Skilled Single Males," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(2), pages 393-418, April.

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