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Looking for Murphy Brown: Are College-Educated, Single Mothers Unique?

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  • Margaret L. Usdansky

    (Princeton University)

  • Sara McLanahan

    (Princeton University)

Abstract

In this paper, we study the 20 percent of unmarried mothers in the U.S. who have attended college. We ask whether these women constitute a distinct subgroup of unmarried mothers in terms of their attitudes toward marriage and men, the characteristics of their partners or the age at which they become mothers. We find evidence that being college educated and single is associated with holding more independent views about marriage, with having lower-quality partners and with increased odds of becoming a mother late in life?above and beyond the main effects of education and marital status. We also find variation across race-ethnic groups. White, educated single mothers most closely resemble the image of the ?independent woman,? while African-American and Hispanic mothers are more likely to be partnered with less-educated men.

Suggested Citation

  • Margaret L. Usdansky & Sara McLanahan, 2003. "Looking for Murphy Brown: Are College-Educated, Single Mothers Unique?," Working Papers 957, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    • Handle: RePEc:pri:crcwel:wp03-05-ff-usdansky.pdf
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    File URL: https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/sites/fragilefamilies/files/wp03-05-ff-usdansky.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Melissa Scharoun-Lee & Penny Gordon-Larsen & Linda Adair & Barry Popkin & Jay Kaufman & Chirayath Suchindran, 2011. "Intergenerational Profiles of Socioeconomic (Dis)advantage and Obesity During the Transition to Adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(2), pages 625-651, May.
    2. Gerald Eric Daniels & Venoo Kakar & Anoshua Chaudhuri, 2017. "Racial Differences in Transitions to Marriage for Unmarried Mothers," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 370-389, September.
    3. Gerald Eric Daniels & Venoo Kakar & Anoshua Chaudhuri, 2017. "Racial Differences in Transitions to Marriage for Unmarried Mothers," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 370-389, September.

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