4.9 Marital History & Fertility

• 4.9.1 Childcare

• 4.9.2 Fertility, Pregnancy & Children

• 4.9.3 Marital & Marriage-Like Relationships

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This section details the NLSY97 data on respondents' experiences with pregnancy, children, and marriage or marriage-like relationships.  Throughout the survey, a marriage-like relationship is defined as a sexual relationship in which partners of the opposite sex live together. 

Table 1 summarizes the NLSY97 User's Guide subtopics available in this section and any global universe restrictions affecting those subtopics.  Users should note that certain questions or groups of questions within a subtopic may have additional restrictions.  Please consult the NLSY97 questionnaire and codebook for more information on particular questions.

4.9 Table 1. Marital History & Fertility Subtopics and Universe Restrictions

4.9.1 Childcare

In the rounds 5-9 Youth Questionnaire, female respondents who had children (biological, adopted, and step-) under the age of 13 years at the time of the interview were asked a series of questions on child care (see questions beginning with YCCA).  They reported on the number of hours the mother was in school, work, or training or traveling to one of these.  An expanded set of child care questions was asked in round 5 and again in round 9. In these questions (see questions beginning with YCCAL), the mother was asked to report, for each child, child care arrangements used, mode of care, hours in each child care arrangement, location of care (for those in the care of a relative), travel time to care, and the amount paid for care.  These female respondents also answered questions about who was responsible for taking the child to care and picking the child up from care. 

In all rounds, these respondents reported on whether an employer, outside agency, or anyone other than the respondent paid for all or part of the care.  If another entity did pay, the respondent told which employer, outside agency, or person paid and how much they contributed toward the care.

In round 5 and round 9, female respondents born in 1983 or 1984 who had no children, and all women with children who did not use relatives as a source of child care, were asked a series of questions related to relatives and child care.  These respondents reported on the number of relatives within 15 and 45 minutes of the respondent's home and on the possibility of these relatives caring for the respondent's children.  Respondents then answered questions on the amount of pay a relative would require to provide child care, if any. 

The extended child care section in rounds 5 and 9 also asked these women how much they would expect to pay for someone to come to their home to care for their child and how much they would be willing to pay.  Similar questions were asked about family day care and child care centers.  For both these types of care, respondents reported on the travel time to the closest center, the amount they would expect to pay, and the amount they would be willing to pay to use the services.

For the questions about relatives in the child care section, the definition of "relative" included in-laws and relatives of the child's father.

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  Information on child care has been collected from the NLSY79, Children of the NLSY79 age 15 and older, and the Original Cohorts.  Data include types and locations of child care arrangements and extent of child care responsibility.  Refer to each cohort's User's Guide for exact survey years and the types of information available.

Survey Instruments:  These questions are found in the child care section of the Youth Questionnaire.  Question names begin with YCCA for regular set of questions and YCCAL for expanded set of questions.

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4.9.2 Fertility, Pregnancy & Children

This section discusses information about fertility, pregnancy, and children collected in the self-administered and fertility sections of the youth instrument.  For information about sexual activity, refer to section 4.5.8, "Sexual Activity & Dating."

In the self-administered section of the Youth Questionnaire, female respondents who were age 14 by the end of the year before the interview are asked a series of questions on pregnancy.  Those who report having ever been pregnant are asked whether the pregnancy resulted in a child born alive.  If the pregnancy did not end in a live birth, follow-up questions ask for the month and year the pregnancy ended, the number of months into the pregnancy it ended, the youth's age at that time, and the outcome (e.g., stillbirth, miscarriage, abortion).  Pregnant respondents are asked how far along they are in their pregnancy; if not sure, they are asked for the date of their last period.  The rounds 2-9 interviews also included questions for male respondents.  This self-administered series asked if the youth had ever made a woman pregnant, his age at that time, if any woman was currently carrying his child, the total number of women he had ever impregnated, the total number of pregnancies, the number ending in a live birth, and the number ending in an abortion.

The fertility section of the questionnaire asks all respondents if they have given birth to or fathered any children.  For each live birth, the survey records the birth date, gender, mortality status, and primary residence of the child.  Female respondents are asked if they are legally responsible for their child; male respondents are asked the same question about the birth mother's legal responsibility. 

In addition, the round 1 NLSY97 survey gathered detailed information concerning legal custody and legal responsibility for each child listed by the respondent.  The survey defined "custody" as the place the child was living and "responsibility" as the person who made major decisions about the child's life. After these questions, male respondents were asked if they had ever legally acknowledged paternity by signing the birth certificate, applying for insurance, or using other methods that would establish their relationship to the child.  Female respondents were asked the same type of paternity questions about the child's father.

For each child, the survey instruments then asked for the characteristics of the child's other biological parent at the time of conception.  Data recorded include race, age, school enrollment, labor market status, welfare recipiency, and highest grade completed.  These details were expanded in round 2 with the addition of  highest degree received and religious preference.  In each round, the respondent is then asked about the type of relationship he or she had with the other person. The first question asks how often the couple had sex (on-going or only once/twice), while the second question asks about the parents' relationship at the time of the birth (i.e., not seen each other for a month or more, still in contact but not sexual, still sexual relationship). 

In round 6, the OTHERPARENTS roster was introduced, which is a list of all people with which the respondents had children.  The roster includes links to all of the children and includes demographic information about the parent, including race, age, education, employment, and other information collected throughout various sections.  Users are encouraged to first consult the OTHERPARENTS roster when seeking information concerning the other parent of the respondent's child.

Another set of questions in round 4 addressed only male respondents who had fathered a child and both mothers and fathers in round 5.  The respondent provided current information about the other parent of each child, such as enrollment and employment status, program participation status, and income.  Respondents also stated whether they currently had a close relationship with the other parent.

In round 4, a series specific to fathers asked about the respondent's relationship with each of his children.  Respondents reported whether they participated in prenatal activities such as going with the mother to the doctor, buying things before the baby was born, and being present at the delivery.  If the respondent had seen the child in the past month, he stated how often he performed activities such as bathing or dressing the child, preparing a meal for the child, or reading books to the child.  Finally, male respondents provided information about child support.  Respondents first reported the amount of support awarded in a child support agreement and then stated whether they had provided additional informal support, such as performing household repairs, buying clothes for the child, or buying household items or gifts for anyone in the household, in the past 12 months. Starting in round 5, most of this section was expanded to include all respondents who were parents, not just fathers.  In round 6, the questions about additional informal support were dropped.

Questions about adopted children have been present in each survey.  Information collected includes the child's birth date, gender, residence, date the child died or left the respondent's household, and whether the respondent is still the legal adoptive parent.  Note that no respondents reached this series in round 1 because of an age restriction and no respondents reported having any adopted children in round 2.  A few adopted children were reported by respondents in rounds 3 and 4.  In round 5, only two adopted children appear on the BIOADOPTCHILD roster, 8 adopted children in round 6, 14 in round 7, 13 in round 8, and 14 in round 9.

Created Variables.  The status of the respondent's biological children is identified in a created variable (CV_CHILD_STATUS.xx).  Coding categories include put up for adoption, deceased, nonresident in foster care, nonresident not adopted or in foster care, and resident in the respondent's household.  Other variables include each biological child's date of birth and, if applicable, date of death. These variables record both the actual dates (CV_CHILD_BIRTH/DEATH_DATE.xx_M/Y,) and the dates in the continuous month scheme (CV_CHILD_BIRTH/DEATH_MONTH.xx) described in section 4.4, "Event History."  Finally, two variables report the number of biological children ever born to the respondent who reside in the household (CV_BIO_CHILD_HH) and the number who do not reside in the household (CV_BIO_CHILD_NR).

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  Information on fertility and on the status of children has been regularly collected from the NLSY79, Children of the NLSY79 age 15 and older, and the Original Cohorts.  Data include number of children, dates of birth, gender, and life status.  Refer to each cohort's User's Guide for exact survey years and the types of information available.

Survey Instruments:  Questions on pregnancy are found in the self-administered section (question names begin with YSAQ in rounds 1-5 and YSAQ2 in rounds 6-9) of the Youth Questionnaire; questions on children are found in the fertility (YFER) section.

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4.9.3 Marital & Marriage-Like Relationships

The surveys ask respondents age 16 or older at the end of the calendar year before the survey about their marital status at the time of the survey.  In addition, information is gathered about all changes in the respondent's marital and cohabitation status that occurred between the interviews.  In the NLSY97, a marriage-like relationship is defined as a sexual relationship in which partners of the opposite sex live together (the phrase "of the opposite sex" was removed from the definition in round 9).  In rounds 2 and above, the partners must have lived together for at least one month.

4.9.3 Table 1. Number of Respondents Ever Married or Never Married and Cohabiting

Each survey asks the respondent to report the name (or initials, if the respondent is reluctant to provide a full name) of any spouse or partner meeting the above definition.  The surveys then collect specific information on each partner.  For all spouses and partners, the respondent reports when he or she started and stopped living with that individual.  If a newly-reported spouse or partner is not residing in the respondent's household, the youth is asked for additional information.  This includes the partner's age, race, and highest grade of schooling at the time the relationship began; whether the partner was enrolled in school, working, or receiving government assistance when they began living together; and the partner's religious preference and the frequency with which he or she attended religious services (rounds 1 and 2).

After the list of spouses and partners is compiled, the questionnaires go back through the list and determine the dates at which changes in marital status occurred during each relationship.  Respondents state whether they were married, divorced, reunited, separated, or had their marriage annulled at that date.  Additional questions ensure that the time periods are captured if respondents break up and then live again with the same partner.

Round 1 also included a series that provided a detailed picture of a respondent's life with his or her current spouse/partner.  Respondents were asked to rate how often they and their partner engaged in behavior such as screaming or yelling, compromising to resolve a disagreement, or expressing affection for each other.  Respondents answered once for themselves and once for each partner so that answers are provided for both sides of the relationship, although only from the respondent's point of view.

Created Variables.  Based on questions in this section, two created variables identify the current marital status of age-eligible respondents.  The first, CV_MARSTAT_COLLAPSED, classifies respondents in five basic marital categories--never married, married, separated, divorced, and widowed.  The other, CV_MARSTAT, uses more detailed categories to provide cohabitation information as well (e.g., never married, cohabiting; married, spouse absent; separated, cohabiting). The total number of marriages (CV_MARRIAGES_TTL) and total number of cohabitation experiences (CV_COHAB_TTL) are also created.  The beginning date of the respondent's first marriage is provided in actual month and year variables (CV_FIRST_MARRY_DATE_M/Y) and as a continuous month scheme variable (CV_FIRST_MARRY_MONTH).  The beginning date of the respondent's first cohabitation has the same created variables available, with "COHAB" in place of "MARRY" in the title.  Users should note that the created marriage date variables refer exclusively to spouses; the created cohabitation date variables refer only to partners, including partners who lived together and later married.

In addition, the Event History data set contains a number of created variables tracing the respondent's marriage and cohabitation history over time.  Unlike the created variables described above, these event history variables (MAR_STATUS, MAR_COHABITATION, and MAR_PARTNER_LINK) include both spouses and partners in the same variable. Interested researchers should refer to section 4.4, "Event History," for descriptions of these variables and of the continuous month scheme mentioned above.

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  Information on marital status, history, and transitions has been collected for each cohort (but only for NLSY79 Children age 15 and older).  For more information, refer to the appropriate cohort's User's Guide.

Survey Instruments:  These questions are found in the marriage section (question names begin with YMAR) of the Youth Questionnaire.

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