Search Results

Author: Cherlin, Andrew J.
Resulting in 21 citations.
1. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Employment, Income, and Family Life: The Case of Marital Dissolution
In: Women's Changing Roles at Home and on the Job: National Commission for Manpower Policy, Special Report No: 26. Washington DC: U.S. GPO, 1978
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Divorce; Earnings; Employment; Family Resources; Marital Dissolution; Marital Stability; Wives; Work Attitudes

This paper presents evidence that several aspects of a couple's economic situation influence the probability of marital dissolution. Two effects have the most relevance for policymakers. First, increased stability and security of the husband's employment decreased the probability of dissolution, independent of income levels. Second, wives who have independent sources of income that compare favorably with the incomes of their husbands have a greater probability of marital dissolution.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. "Employment, Income, and Family Life: The Case of Marital Dissolution" In: Women's Changing Roles at Home and on the Job: National Commission for Manpower Policy, Special Report No: 26. Washington DC: U.S. GPO, 1978
2. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Employment, Income, Marriage, and Divorce in Two Cohorts of Women
Final Report to Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 1978
Cohort(s): Mature Women, Young Women
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Children; Divorce; Earnings; Educational Attainment; Employment; Marital Dissolution; Marriage; Work Attitudes

Data are analyzed from the NLS of Young Women and Mature Women on the following topics: (1) the postponement of marriage among women in their twenties; (2) the determinants of divorce and separation among young and mature married women; (3) cohabitation and subsequent marriage; and (4) the reliability and validity of retrospective measures of family structure. A number of effects of employment, earnings, work attitudes, educational attainment, and other social demographic and economic characteristics are reported. During the l969 to l975 period, the proportion of young women wanting to be housewives at age 35--as opposed to wanting to work outside the home--fell sharply, lowering the probability of marriage for these women. Employment and income are more important determinants of divorce and separation for married women in their thirties and forties than for married women in their twenties. Single, cohabitating women marry at about the same rate as do single, non-cohabitating women.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. "Employment, Income, Marriage, and Divorce in Two Cohorts of Women." Final Report to Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 1978.
3. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Infant Care and Full-Time Employment
In: Child Care in the 1990s: Trends and Consequences. A. Booth, ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates ==> Taylor & Francis
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Care; Maternal Employment

Permission to reprint the abstract has been denied by the publisher.

Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. "Infant Care and Full-Time Employment" In: Child Care in the 1990s: Trends and Consequences. A. Booth, ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992
4. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Postponing Marriage: The Influence of Young Women's Work Expectations
Journal of Marriage and Family 42,2 (May 1980): 355-365.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/351233
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: National Council on Family Relations
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Job Aspirations; Marriage; Schooling; Sex Roles

This paper investigates the determinants of one component of the recent changes in family life: the postponement of marriage among women in their early twenties. Single women in a national longitudinal study who planned to be housewives at age 35 - as opposed to those who planned to be working outside the home - were more likely to marry in the near future. But, between 1969 and 1975, the proportion of single women who planned to be housewives decreased sharply. Evidence is presented which suggests that the change in future work plans may have reduced the chances that a woman in her early twenties would marry in the next few years. The implications of these and other findings for the study of the transition to marriage are discussed.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. "Postponing Marriage: The Influence of Young Women's Work Expectations." Journal of Marriage and Family 42,2 (May 1980): 355-365.
5. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Rising Nonmarital First Childbearing among College-educated Women: Evidence from three National Studies
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 118,37 (14 September 2021): DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2109016118.
Also: https://www.pnas.org/content/118/37/e2109016118
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences (NAS), United States
Keyword(s): Childbearing, Premarital/Nonmarital; College Education; Family Formation; First Birth; Marital Status; National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth); National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG)

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

Until recently, one key way in which family formation in the United States was distinctive among college-educated young adults was their tendency to wait until after marriage to have a first birth. Even as nonmarital first childbearing became common among less-educated adults, levels among the college-educated remained very low. These levels now appear to be rising, according to data from three national surveys. The data suggest a change in the role of marriage in family formation among the college-educated population, although not necessarily a decline. Rather, the place of marriage in the sequence of life events that compose emerging adulthood may be shifting among college graduates: for a growing share, marriage may occur after a first birth rather than before.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. "Rising Nonmarital First Childbearing among College-educated Women: Evidence from three National Studies." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 118,37 (14 September 2021): DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2109016118.
6. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Social and Economic Determinants of Marital Separation
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California - Los Angeles, 1976. DAI-A 37/03, p. 1827, September 1976
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Children; Divorce; Earnings; Employment; Marital Dissolution; Marriage; Unemployment; Wives

The social and economic determinants of separation and divorce were studied using a national sample of 5,000 women aged 30 to 44 who were interviewed annually from l967 to l97l. A subsample of about 3,500 nonfarm women who were married with their husbands present in l967 was extracted from the data. The characteristics of the women who remained married until l97l were compared statistically with the characteristics of the women who separated or divorced.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. Social and Economic Determinants of Marital Separation. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California - Los Angeles, 1976. DAI-A 37/03, p. 1827, September 1976.
7. Cherlin, Andrew J.
The Effect of Children on Marital Dissolution
Demography 14,3 (August 1977): 265-272.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/ar71152416661310/
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Children; Educational Attainment; Family Resources; Marital Dissolution; Preschool Children; Welfare; Work Attitudes

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

The relationship between the presence of children and divorce and separation is examined using data from the first four years of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience in Women Aged 30 to 44. The data show that children were a deterrent to separation and divorce only when they were in the preschool ages. Once all the children in a family were in school, they did not seem to influence the probability of separation and divorce. It is suggested that the high costs of child care for preschool children, in terms of time, money, and effort, act as a deterrent to marital dissolution. The associations between several other social demographic variables and marital dissolution also are investigated.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. "The Effect of Children on Marital Dissolution." Demography 14,3 (August 1977): 265-272.
8. Cherlin, Andrew J.
The National Longitudinal Surveys and Sociological Research
Contemporary Sociology 9,4 (July 1980): 512-515.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2066232
Cohort(s): NLS General
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Labor Force Participation; NLS Description; Retirement/Retirement Planning

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

This paper recounts the historical development and research content of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience. In addition, it briefly reviews, from a sociological perspective, some of the NLS research which has been conducted over the years and pinpoints dilemmas and challenges facing the researcher working with this large longitudinal data base.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. "The National Longitudinal Surveys and Sociological Research." Contemporary Sociology 9,4 (July 1980): 512-515.
9. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Work Life and Marital Dissolution
In: Divorce and Separation: Context, Causes and Consequences. G. Levinger and O. Moles, eds. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1979
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Keyword(s): Divorce; Family Resources; Husbands, Income; Job Tenure; Marital Dissolution; Mobility, Job; Wives, Income; Work Attitudes; Work History

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

Work lives affect family lives. A growing body of evidence suggests that whether and when we marry, how many children we have, and whether a marriage ends in divorce are all determined, in part, by employment and income. Two influences, aspects of a couple's economic situation, seem to have the most substantive importance in affecting marital dissolution. First, greater stability of the husband's employment decreased the probability of dissolution, independent of income levels. Second, wives whose potential wage compared favorably with the wage of their husbands had a greater probability of dissolution. The evidence suggests that the relationship between two married partners' work lives and their chances of divorcing or separating is more complex than earlier studies implied.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. "Work Life and Marital Dissolution" In: Divorce and Separation: Context, Causes and Consequences. G. Levinger and O. Moles, eds. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1979
10. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Horiuchi, Shiro
Retrospective Reports of Family Structure: A Methodological Assessment
Sociological Methods and Research 8,4 (May 1980): 454-469.
Also: http://smr.sagepub.com/content/8/4/454.abstract
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: Sage Publications
Keyword(s): Data Quality/Consistency; Family Structure; Household Models; Research Methodology

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

The authors investigate response inconsistencies in regard to a national panel of young women who were asked: "With whom were you living when you were 14 years old?" The findings show that there is considerable inconsistency between l968 and l972 as to whether or not the respondent said in 1968 that at age 14 she was living with both parents. The authors suggest that some of the respondent's households may have changed composition so there may not have been a single, true answer to the question. In addition, the authors hypothesize that others changed their responses to fit with what they viewed as soundly more acceptable responses. Despite the inconsistency between 1968 and 1972, the responses lead to similar conclusions when they were used in multivariate analyses.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J. and Shiro Horiuchi. "Retrospective Reports of Family Structure: A Methodological Assessment." Sociological Methods and Research 8,4 (May 1980): 454-469.
11. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Ribar, David C.
Yasutake, Suzumi
Nonmarital First Births, Marriage, and Income Inequality
American Sociological Review 81,4 (August 2016): 749-770.
Also: http://asr.sagepub.com/content/81/4/749
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Childbearing, Premarital/Nonmarital; Cohabitation; First Birth; Income; Marriage; Parents, Single; Wage Differentials

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

Many aggregate-level studies suggest a relationship between economic inequality and sociodemographic outcomes such as family formation, health, and mortality; individual-level evidence, however, is lacking. Nor is there satisfactory evidence on the mechanisms by which inequality may have an effect. We study the determinants of transitions to a nonmarital first birth as a single parent or as a cohabiting parent compared to transitions to marriage prior to a first birth among unmarried, childless young adults in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort, from 1997 to 2011. We include measures of county-group-level household income inequality and the availability of jobs typically held by high school graduates that pay above-poverty wages (i.e., middle-skilled jobs). We find that greater income inequality is associated with a reduced likelihood of transitioning to marriage prior to a first birth for both women and men. The association between levels of inequality and transitions to marriage can be partially accounted for by the availability of middle-skilled jobs. Some models also suggest that greater income inequality is associated with a reduced likelihood of transitioning to a first birth while cohabiting.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J., David C. Ribar and Suzumi Yasutake. "Nonmarital First Births, Marriage, and Income Inequality." American Sociological Review 81,4 (August 2016): 749-770.
12. Cherlin, Andrew J.
Talbert, Elizabeth
Yasutake, Suzumi
Changing Fertility Regimes and the Transition to Adulthood: Evidence from a Recent Cohort
Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): College Education; Fertility; High School Completion/Graduates; Marital Status; Parental Marital Status; Transition, Adulthood

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

Recent demographic trends have produced a distinctive fertility regime among young women and men in their teenage years and twenties. Data from the NLSY, 1997 cohort, show that by the time the cohort had reached ages 25-30 in 2010, 83% of births reported by women and 88% of births reported by men had occurred to non-college graduates. In addition, 59% of births had occurred outside of marriage. Moreover, 67% of women (and 65% of men) who reported a birth had at least one child outside of marriage, a figure that rose to 74% among women (and 71% among men) without 4-year college degrees. It is now unusual for non-college-graduates who have children in their teens and twenties to have all of them within marriage. The implications of these developments are discussed in light of differing transitions to adulthood of non-college-graduates versus college-graduates and growing social class inequalities in family patterns.
Bibliography Citation
Cherlin, Andrew J., Elizabeth Talbert and Suzumi Yasutake. "Changing Fertility Regimes and the Transition to Adulthood: Evidence from a Recent Cohort." Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014.
13. Fomby, Paula
Cherlin, Andrew J.
Family Instability and Child Well-Being
American Sociological Review 72,2 (April 2007):181-204.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472457
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Age at First Intercourse; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Bias Decomposition; Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Cognitive Development; Divorce; Family History; Family Structure; Household Composition; Household Structure; Marital Instability; Mothers, Education; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading)

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

Children who experience multiple transitions in family structure may face worse developmental outcomes than children raised in stable, two-parent families, and perhaps even worse than children raised in stable, single-parent families­ a point denoted in much prior research. Multiple transitions and negative child outcomes, however, may be associated through common causal factors such as parents' antecedent behaviors and attributes. Using a nationally-representative, two-generation longitudinal survey that includes detailed information on children's behavioral and cognitive development, family history, and mothers' attributes prior to children's births, we examine these alternative hypotheses. Our results suggest that, for white children, the association between the number of family structure transitions and cognitive outcomes is largely explained by mothers' prior characteristics but that the association between the number of transitions and behavioral outcomes may be causal in part. We find no robust effects for number of transitions for black children.
Bibliography Citation
Fomby, Paula and Andrew J. Cherlin. "Family Instability and Child Well-Being." American Sociological Review 72,2 (April 2007):181-204.
14. Fomby, Paula
Cherlin, Andrew J.
Family Instability and Selection Effects on Children
Presented: Philadelphia, PA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, March-April 2005
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Age at First Intercourse; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Bias Decomposition; Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Children, Behavioral Development; Cognitive Development; Divorce; Family Circumstances, Changes in; Family History; Family Structure; Household Composition; Household Structure; Marital Instability; Mothers, Education; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading)

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

A growing body of literature suggests that children who experience multiple transitions in family structure may fare worse developmentally than children raised in stable two-parent families and perhaps even than children raised in stable, single-parent families. This body of research presents what we call the instability hypothesis, the prediction that children are affected by disruption and changes in family structure as much as (or even more than) by the type of family structures they experience. A plausible alternative is that multiple transitions and negative child outcomes may be associated with each other through common causal factors reflected in the parents' antecedent behaviors and attributes. We call this the selection hypothesis. We test the selection hypothesis against the instability hypothesis in a statistical analysis of nationally representative longitudinal data (NLSY79 and its mother-child supplement, the CNLSY) that includes detailed information on children's behavioral and cognitive development, family history, and mother's background prior to the child's birth.
Bibliography Citation
Fomby, Paula and Andrew J. Cherlin. "Family Instability and Selection Effects on Children." Presented: Philadelphia, PA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, March-April 2005.
15. Goodnight, Jackson A.
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Cherlin, Andrew J.
Emery, Robert E.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Effects of Multiple Maternal Relationship Transitions on Offspring Antisocial Behavior in Childhood and Adolescence: A Cousin-Comparison Analysis
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 41,2 (February 2013): 185-198.
Also: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10802-012-9667-y
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavior, Antisocial; Birth Order; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Genetics; Kinship; Marital Instability; Modeling, Multilevel; Parental Influences; Pre-natal Care/Exposure; Siblings

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

Previous studies of the association between multiple parental relationship transitions (i.e., when a parent begins or terminates an intimate relationship involving cohabitation) and offspring antisocial behavior have varied in their efforts to rule out confounding influences, such as parental antisocial behavior and low income. They also have been limited in the representativeness of their samples. Thus, it remains unclear to what degree parents’ multiple relationship transitions have independent effects on children’s antisocial behavior. Analyses were conducted using data on 8,652 6–9-year-old, 6,911 10–13-year-old, and 6,495 14–17-year-old offspring of a nationally representative sample of U.S. women. Cousin-comparisons were used in combination with statistical covariates to evaluate the associations between maternal relationship transitions and offspring antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence. Cousin-comparisons suggested that associations between maternal relationship transitions and antisocial behavior in childhood and early adolescence are largely explained by confounding factors. In contrast, the associations between maternal relationship transitions and offspring delinquency in late adolescence were robust to measured and unmeasured confounds. The present findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing exposure to parental relationship transitions or addressing the psychosocial consequences of exposure to parental relationship transitions could reduce risk for offspring delinquency in late adolescence.
Bibliography Citation
Goodnight, Jackson A., Brian M. D'Onofrio, Andrew J. Cherlin, Robert E. Emery, Carol A. Van Hulle and Benjamin B. Lahey. "Effects of Multiple Maternal Relationship Transitions on Offspring Antisocial Behavior in Childhood and Adolescence: A Cousin-Comparison Analysis." Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 41,2 (February 2013): 185-198.
16. Hao, Lingxin
Astone, Nan Marie
Cherlin, Andrew J.
Adolescents' Formal Employment and School Enrollment: Effects of State Welfare Policies
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 23,4 (Autumn 2004): 697-721.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.20043/abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Dropouts; Employment, Youth; High School; High School Dropouts; Welfare

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

Variations in state welfare policies in the reform era may affect adolescents through two mechanisms: A competing labor market hypothesis posits that stringent state welfare policies may reduce adolescent employment; and a signaling hypothesis posits that stringent welfare policies may promote enrollment. To test these hypotheses, we use a dynamic joint model of adolescents' school enrollment and formal employment, separating state welfare policies from non-welfare state policies, state labor market conditions, and unobserved state characteristics. Longitudinal data from the NLSY97 on adolescents aged 14 to 18 and various state data sources over the period 1994-1999 support the competing labor market effect but not the signaling effect. In particular, lower-income dropouts suffer more severely from fewer labor market opportunities when state welfare policies are more stringent, which indicates that welfare reform may compromise work opportunities for lower-income dropouts.
Bibliography Citation
Hao, Lingxin, Nan Marie Astone and Andrew J. Cherlin. "Adolescents' Formal Employment and School Enrollment: Effects of State Welfare Policies." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 23,4 (Autumn 2004): 697-721.
17. Hao, Lingxin
Cherlin, Andrew J.
Astone, Nan Marie
Adolescents' School Enrollment and Employment: Effect of State Welfare Policies
Working Paper, Labor Market and Employment, Joint Center for Poverty Research, Northwestern University, June 2001.
Also: http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/jcpr/workingpapers/wpfiles/Hao_Astone_Cherlin.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Joint Center for Poverty Research
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Drug Use; Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Family Income; GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; Geocoded Data; High School Dropouts; Human Capital; Labor Market Demographics; Life Course; Neighborhood Effects; Program Participation/Evaluation; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Transition, Welfare to Work; Welfare

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

This study hypothesizes that stringent state welfare policies may promote enrollment and reduce employment through four mechanisms taking place in the larger society, the local labor market and the family, particularly for adolescents from low-income families. We conduct a rigorous and robust analysis using a dynamic model and separating out the welfare policies from nonwelfare state policies, youth-specific state labor market conditions, and unobserved state characteristics and period effects. Using longitudinal data from the NLSY97, we have tested the welfare policy effects over a period across welfare waivers and welfare reform (1994-1999) for adolescents aged 14-18. We find that welfare reform may change the behavior of teenage students by encouraging full engagement in schooling and reducing employment while in school. If focusing entirely on schooling is the best way for low-income youth to build human capital, these possible effects of welfare reform could be beneficial. However, if low-income youth obtain "soft skills" from a formal job and if "soft skills" turn out to be decisive for low-income youth's economic future, these welfare policy effects could be harmful. In addition, stringent state welfare policies appear to have a detrimental effect on teenage dropouts from low-income families.
Bibliography Citation
Hao, Lingxin, Andrew J. Cherlin and Nan Marie Astone. "Adolescents' School Enrollment and Employment: Effect of State Welfare Policies." Working Paper, Labor Market and Employment, Joint Center for Poverty Research, Northwestern University, June 2001.
18. Morrison, Donna Ruane
Cherlin, Andrew J.
Divorce Process and Children's Well-Being: A Prospective Analysis
Presented: Denver, CO, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1992
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Development; Children; Children, Academic Development; Children, Behavioral Development; Divorce; Family Influences; Gender Differences; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Marital Disruption; Marriage; Mobility; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading)

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

This analysis examines the consequences of marital disruption on the well-being of young children using the NLSY Merged Mother-Child file, a large-scale, longitudinal study that includes both detailed assessments of children and family characteristics. The authors take a prospective approach and account for the family situation before physical separation as well as practical, emotional, and economic changes that accompany divorce for children. Outcomes examined include the Behavior Problems Index (BPI) and three Peabody Individual Achievement sub-tests: mathematics, reading recognition and reading comprehension. The analysis begins with assessments of children whose parents' marriages are intact in 1986. By 1988 children fall into either disrupted or intact groups and their behavior and achievement are reassessed. It was found that negative effects of family disruption on the mathematics and BPI scores of boys are not reduced when prior family characteristics are controlled. In addition, the effect of disruption on mathematics test performance can be partially attributed to changes in the quality of the child's home environment, while downward mobility mediates the effect of divorce on boys' behavior.
Bibliography Citation
Morrison, Donna Ruane and Andrew J. Cherlin. "Divorce Process and Children's Well-Being: A Prospective Analysis." Presented: Denver, CO, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1992.
19. Morrison, Donna Ruane
Cherlin, Andrew J.
The Divorce Process and Young Children's Well-Being: A Prospective Analysis
Journal of Marriage and Family 57,3 (August 1995): 800-812.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/353933
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: National Council on Family Relations
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Children, Home Environment; Children, Preschool; Children, Well-Being; Divorce; Family Environment; Family Studies; Gender Differences; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Marital Disruption; Marital Dissolution; Marital Stability; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT)

A study was conducted to investigate the consequences of marital disruption for children's behavior problems and academic achievement. Data were drawn from the 1986 and 1988 waves of the Child Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The findings reveal that, even before predisruption characteristics are introduced into the analysis, there is little effect of marital dissolution on girls. The negative impact of family disruption on boys' behavior problems can be partially attributed to downward mobility after the disruption.
Bibliography Citation
Morrison, Donna Ruane and Andrew J. Cherlin. "The Divorce Process and Young Children's Well-Being: A Prospective Analysis." Journal of Marriage and Family 57,3 (August 1995): 800-812.
20. Wu, Lawrence L.
Cherlin, Andrew J.
Bumpass, Larry L.
Family Structure, Early Sexual Behavior, and Premarital Births
CDE Working Paper No. 96-25, part 2 of 2 Madison WI: University of Wisconsin - Madison, Center for Demography and Ecology, 1997.
Also: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/1996papers.htm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Center for Demography and Ecology
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Age at First Intercourse; Childbearing, Adolescent; Childbearing, Premarital/Nonmarital; Family Structure; Marital Status; National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG); Racial Differences; Sexual Activity; Sexual Behavior

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

Abstract on-line. In this paper, we argue that entry into first sexual intercourse is a key process mediating the effects of family structure on premarital childbearing. We explicate three ways in which onset of sexual activity can mediate effects of family structure on premarital first births. First, the gross association between family structure and premarital birth risks may be due entirely to the effect of family structure on age at first intercourse. Second, the earlier the age at first intercourse, the longer the duration of exposure to the risk of a premarital first birth. Third, an early age at first intercourse may proxy unmeasured individual characteristics correlated with age at onset but uncorrelated with other variables in the model. We develop methods to assess such mediating effects and analyze data from two sources, the 1979-93 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth. We find that age at first intercourse partially mediates the effect on premarital birth risks of both snapshot measures of family structure at age 14 and a time-varying measure of the number of family transitions, but that significant effects of these variables remain net of age at first intercourse. Delaying age at intercourse by one year reduces the cumulative relative risk of a premarital first birth by a similar amount for both white and black women. For black women, the magnitude of this effect is roughly the same as that of residing in a mother-only family at age 14.
Bibliography Citation
Wu, Lawrence L., Andrew J. Cherlin and Larry L. Bumpass. "Family Structure, Early Sexual Behavior, and Premarital Births." CDE Working Paper No. 96-25, part 2 of 2 Madison WI: University of Wisconsin - Madison, Center for Demography and Ecology, 1997.
21. Wu, Lawrence L.
Cherlin, Andrew J.
Bumpass, Larry L.
Family Structure, Early Sexual Behavior, and Premarital Births
Discussion Paper No. 1125-97, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1997.
Also: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp112597.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin - Madison
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Adolescent Fertility; Age at First Intercourse; Childbearing, Premarital/Nonmarital; Family Structure; Marital Status; National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG); Racial Differences; Sexual Behavior

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

In this paper, we argue that entry into first sexual intercourse is a key process mediating the effects of family structure on premarital childbearing. We explicate three ways in which onset of sexual activity can mediate effects of family structure on premarital first births. First, the gross association between family structure and premarital birth risks may be due entirely to the effect of family structure on age at first intercourse. Second, the earlier the age at first intercourse, the longer the duration of exposure to the risk of a premarital first birth. Third, an early age at first intercourse may proxy unmeasured individual characteristics correlated with age at onset but uncorrelated with other variables in the model. We develop methods to assess such mediating effects and analyze data from two sources, the 1979-93 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth. We find that age at first intercourse partially mediates the effect on premarital birth risks of both snapshot measures of family structure at age 14 and a dine-varying measure of the number of family transitions, but that significant effects of these variables remain net of age at first intercourse. Delaying age at intercourse by one year reduces the cumulative relative risk of a premarital first birth by a similar amount for both white and black women. For black women, the magnitude of this effect is roughly the same as that of residing in a mother-only family at age 14.
Bibliography Citation
Wu, Lawrence L., Andrew J. Cherlin and Larry L. Bumpass. "Family Structure, Early Sexual Behavior, and Premarital Births." Discussion Paper No. 1125-97, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1997.