Search Results

Author: Korenman, Sanders D.
Resulting in 34 citations.
1. Averett, Susan L.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Black-White Differences in Social and Economic Consequences of Obesity
International Journal of Obesity 23,2 (February 1999): 166-173.
Also: http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v23/n2/pdf/0800805a.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Stockton Press
Keyword(s): Body Mass Index (BMI); Ethnic Differences; Labor Market Outcomes; Marriage; Obesity; Racial Differences; Self-Esteem; Socioeconomic Background

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

OBJECTIVE: To investigate social and economic effects of obesity for black and white females, and to explore possible explanations for race differences in obesity effects. SUBJECTS: 1354 non-Hispanic black and 3097 non-Hispanic, non-black, women aged 25-33yr. in 1990 from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979-1990. MEASUREMENTS: Body mass index (BMI) evaluated at age 17-24 yr. (1982) and 25-33 yr. (1990). METHODS: Logistic and linear regression of six labour market and marriage outcomes on early or attained BMI. Detailed controls for family socioeconomic background. RESULTS: Socioeconomic effects of obesity appear larger for whites than blacks. Obesity is associated with low self-esteem among whites, but not blacks. Differences in self-esteem do not account for race differences in the effects of obesity on socioeconomic status. Lower probability of marriage and lower earnings of husbands among those who marry account for the majority of the income differences between obese white women and those of recommended weight. Occupational differences account for more than one fifth of the effect of obesity on the hourly wages of both white and black women. CONCLUSION: Cultural differences may protect black women from the self-esteem loss associated with obesity for whites. However, differences in self-esteem do not account for the effects of obesity on socioeconomic status. Because the effect of obesity on the economic status of white women works primarily through marriage, it may therefore be less amenable to policy intervention to improve the labor market prospects of obese women.
Bibliography Citation
Averett, Susan L. and Sanders D. Korenman. "Black-White Differences in Social and Economic Consequences of Obesity." International Journal of Obesity 23,2 (February 1999): 166-173.
2. Averett, Susan L.
Korenman, Sanders D.
The Economic Reality of the Beauty Myth
NBER Working Paper No. 4521, National Bureau of Economic Research, November, 1993.
Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W4521
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Earnings; Family Background and Culture; Family Income; Height, Height-Weight Ratios; Income; Marital Status; Obesity; Racial Equality/Inequality; Wage Differentials

We investigate income, marital status, and hourly pay differentials by body mass (kg/m2) in a sample of 23 to 31 year olds drawn from the 1988 NLSY. Obese women have lower family incomes than women whose weight-for-height is in the "recommended" range. Results for men are weaker and mixed. We find similar results when we compare same-sex siblings in order to control for family background (e.g., social class) differences. Differences in economic status by body mass for women increase markedly when we use an earlier weight measure or restrict the sample to persons who were single and childless when the early weight was reported. There is some evidence of labor market discrimination against obese women. However, differences in marriage probabilities and in spouse's earnings account for 50 to 95 percent of their lower economic status. There is no evidence that obese African American women suffer an economic penalty relative to other African American women.
Bibliography Citation
Averett, Susan L. and Sanders D. Korenman. "The Economic Reality of the Beauty Myth." NBER Working Paper No. 4521, National Bureau of Economic Research, November, 1993.
3. Averett, Susan L.
Korenman, Sanders D.
The Economic Reality of the Beauty Myth
Journal of Human Resources 31,2 (Spring 1996): 304-330.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/146065
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Black Studies; Discrimination; Earnings; Family Background and Culture; Height, Height-Weight Ratios; Income; Labor Market Outcomes; Marital Status; Obesity; Siblings

A study investigates income, marital status, and hourly pay differentials by body mass in a sample of 23- and 31-year-olds drawn from the 1988 National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience of Youth. Obese women have lower family incomes than women whose weight-for-height is in the "recommended" range. The results for men are weaker and mixed. The study finds similar results when it compares same-sex siblings in order to control for family background differences. Differences in economic status by body mass for women increase markedly when an earlier weight measure is used or the sample is restricted to persons who were single and childless when the early weight was reported. There is some evidence of labor market discrimination against obese women. Differences in marriage probabilities and spouse's earnings, however, account for 50% to 95% of their lower economic status. There is little evidence that obese African American women suffer an economic penalty to other African American women. [Copyright Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System 1996]
Bibliography Citation
Averett, Susan L. and Sanders D. Korenman. "The Economic Reality of the Beauty Myth." Journal of Human Resources 31,2 (Spring 1996): 304-330.
4. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Maternal Youth or Family Background? On the Health Disadvantages of Infants with Teenage Mothers
American Journal of Epidemiology 137,2 (15 January 1993): 213-225.
Also: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/137/2/213.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Alcohol Use; Birthweight; First Birth; Health Factors; Household Composition; Pre-natal Care/Exposure; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Racial Differences; Siblings; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

The health disadvantages of infants with teenage mothers are well documented. Because poor and minority women are disproportionately represented among teen mothers, differences in infant health by maternal age may reflect family background pre-childbearing) characteristics rather than the effects of maternal age. To control for differences in family background, the authors compared birth outcomes and maternal behaviors that could affect fetal or infant health among sisters in the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979-1988). They compared sisters who had first births at different ages in order to study the relation between maternal age and low birth weight, prenatal care, smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy, breast feeding, and well-child visits. The authors found evidence that maternal family background accounts for many of the health-related disadvantages of the firstborn infants of teenage mothers. The findings suggest that disadvantaged black primiparous women in their twenties may be an important and possibly underemphasized target population for interventions designed to reduce excess black low birth weight and infant mortality rates.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T. and Sanders D. Korenman. "Maternal Youth or Family Background? On the Health Disadvantages of Infants with Teenage Mothers." American Journal of Epidemiology 137,2 (15 January 1993): 213-225.
5. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Maternal Youth or Family Background? Preliminary Findings on the Health Disadvantages of Infants with Teenage Mothers
Research Report No 91-204. Ann Arbor, MI: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, March 1991.
Also: http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/abs.shtml?ID=33489
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Birth Outcomes; Birthweight; Breastfeeding; Childbearing, Adolescent; Health Factors; Household Composition; Mothers, Behavior; Pre-natal Care/Exposure; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Siblings

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

The health disadvantages of infants with teen mothers are well documented, but the causal mechanisms that mediate associations have not been clearly demonstrated. An important consideration is often overlooked: teenage mothers come disproportionately from disadvantaged and minority populations. Observed differences in infant health between teen mothers and women who postpone childbearing may reflect unmeasured socioeconomic background factors, factors that precede the first pregnancy, rather than the effects of maternal age. Data from the NLSY is analyzed and new estimates of the relationship between maternal age and low birth weight, preterm birth indicators of prenatal care utilization, smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and well-child visits are presented. Pre-pregnancy family background differences between teen and older mothers is controlled by comparing sisters who experienced their first births at different ages. Findings suggest that family background characteristics of mothers, factors that precede their childbearing years, can account for many of the health disadvantages of infant with teenage mothers. For both blacks and whites, sisters comparisons suggested a less adverse effect of teen childbearing than suggested by cross-sectional comparisons. For all family and maternal age groups, absolute levels of poor birth outcomes and inadequate well-child visits were higher for blacks; those for unhealthy behaviors and breastfeeding were markedly lower for blacks. These findings suggest that the processes leading to poor birth outcomes for teen mothers are complex. Theoretical, clinical, programmatic and policy implications are discussed.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T. and Sanders D. Korenman. Maternal Youth or Family Background? Preliminary Findings on the Health Disadvantages of Infants with Teenage Mothers. Research Report No 91-204. Ann Arbor, MI: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, March 1991..
6. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
The Socioeconomic Consequences of Teen Childbearing Reconsidered
Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,4 (November 1992): 1187-1214.
Also: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/4/1187.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Birthweight; Childbearing, Adolescent; Heterogeneity; Household Composition; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Siblings

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

Teen childbearing is commonly believed to cause long-term socioeconomic disadvantages for mothers and their children. However, earlier cross-sectional studies may have inadequately accounted for marked differences in family background among women who have first births at different ages. We present new estimates that take into account unmeasured fa background heterogeneity by comparing sisters who timed their first births at different ages. In two of the three sets we examine, sister comparisons suggest that biases from family background heterogeneity are important, and, therefore, that earlier studies may have overstated the consequences of teen childbearing.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T. and Sanders D. Korenman. "The Socioeconomic Consequences of Teen Childbearing Reconsidered." Quarterly Journal of Economics 107,4 (November 1992): 1187-1214.
7. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
The Socioeconomic Consequences of Teen Childbearing Reconsidered
Research Report No. 90-190, Ann Arbor MI: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, 1990.
Also: http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/abs/837
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Behavioral Problems; Birthweight; Childbearing, Adolescent; Family Background and Culture; Heterogeneity; Household Composition; Siblings; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Teenagers

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

Teen childbearing is commonly viewed as an irrational behavior that leads to long-term socioeconomic disadvantage for mothers and their children. Cross- sectional studies that estimate relationships between maternal age at first birth and socioeconomic indicators measured later in life form the empirical basis for this view. However, these studies have failed to account adequately for differences in family background among women who time their births at different ages. The authors present new estimates of the consequences of teen childbearing that take into account observed and unobserved family background heterogeneity, comparing sisters who have timed their first births at different ages. Sibling comparisons suggest that previous estimates have overstated the consequences of early fertility.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T. and Sanders D. Korenman. "The Socioeconomic Consequences of Teen Childbearing Reconsidered." Research Report No. 90-190, Ann Arbor MI: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, 1990.
8. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
The Socioeconomic Costs of Teenage Childbearing: Evidence and Interpretation
Demography 30,2 (May 1993): 281-290.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/d1gr58p1v2u91374/
Cohort(s): NLSY79, Young Women
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Family Background and Culture; Fertility; First Birth; Heterogeneity; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Pregnancy, Adolescent; Siblings

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

Until recently, the belief that teenage childbearing makes a substantial causal contribution to persistent socioeconomic disadvantage was pervasive. The scientific evidence used to support this interpretation was open to the criticism by failure to account for unobserved heterogeneity; fertility timing varies across populations, and early fertility is much more common in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Investigators therefore made efforts to control for background differences among mothers who had first births at different ages. We were concerned, however, that measures of family background used in these studies might have been inadequate. We undertook a sibling approach as a matched comparison group study in which the set of match characteristics is more complete than that provided by matching measured or observable family background characteristics. The recent replication of our study by Hoffman, Foster, and Furstenberg (1993) supports our principal conclusions that standard cross-sectional estimates of the consequences of teen childbearing are biased by failure to control adequately for family background differences between women who have first births as teenagers and those who have first births at later ages, and that previous estimates are likely to have exaggerated the costs of teen childbearing.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T. and Sanders D. Korenman. "The Socioeconomic Costs of Teenage Childbearing: Evidence and Interpretation." Demography 30,2 (May 1993): 281-290.
9. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Hillemeier, Marianne M.
Does Young Maternal Age Adversely Affect Child Development? Evidence from Cousin Comparisons
Research Report No 92-256. Ann Arbor, MI: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, September 1992.
Also: http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/abs.shtml?ID=33540
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Age at First Birth; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Bias Decomposition; Birthweight; Child Development; Child Health; Family Background and Culture; Family Influences; Fertility; First Birth; Heterogeneity; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Marital Status; Mothers; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings; Teenagers; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale)

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

We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 1979-1988 to estimate relations between maternal age at first birth and measures of early socioemotional and cognitive development of children. We compare cross-sectional estimates to estimates based on comparisons of first cousins to gauge the importance of bias from family background heterogeneity. Cross-sectional estimates suggest moderate adverse consequences of teen motherhood for child development. However, children of teen mothers appear to score no worse on measures of development than first cousins whose mothers had first births after their teen years. The evidence suggests that differences in far background of mothers (factors that precede their childbearing years) account for the low scores on measures of socioemotional and cognitive development seen in young children of teen mothers.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T., Sanders D. Korenman and Marianne M. Hillemeier. Does Young Maternal Age Adversely Affect Child Development? Evidence from Cousin Comparisons. Research Report No 92-256. Ann Arbor, MI: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, September 1992..
10. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Hillemeier, Marianne M.
Does Young Maternal Age Adversely Affect Child Development? Evidence from Cousin Comparisons
Presented: Bethesda, MA, NICHD Conference, "Outcomes of Early Childbearing: An Appraisal of Recent Evidence", May 1992
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; All-Volunteer Force (AVF); Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Bias Decomposition; Birthweight; Child Development; Child Health; Family Influences; Fertility; First Birth; General Assessment; Heterogeneity; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Marital Status; Mothers; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings; Teenagers; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale)

We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 1979-1988 to estimate relations between maternal age at first birth and measures of early socioemotional and cognitive development of children. We compare cross-sectional estimates to estimates based on comparisons of first cousins to gauge the importance of bias from family background heterogeneity. Cross-sectional estimates suggest moderate adverse consequences of teen motherhoo for child development. However, children of teen mothers appear to score no worse on measures of development than first cousins whose mothers had first births after their teen years. The evidence suggests that differences in far background of mothers (factors that precede their childbearing years) account for the low scores on measures of socioemotional and cognitive development seen in young children of teen mothers.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T., Sanders D. Korenman and Marianne M. Hillemeier. "Does Young Maternal Age Adversely Affect Child Development? Evidence from Cousin Comparisons." Presented: Bethesda, MA, NICHD Conference, "Outcomes of Early Childbearing: An Appraisal of Recent Evidence", May 1992.
11. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Hillemeier, Marianne M.
Does Young Maternal Age Adversely Affect Child Development? Evidence from Cousin Comparisons
Presented: Denver, CO, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1992
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Bias Decomposition; Birthweight; Child Development; Child Health; Family Background and Culture; Family Influences; First Birth; General Assessment; Heterogeneity; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Marital Status; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Mothers; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings; Teenagers; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale)

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

Data from the NLSY are used to estimate relationships between maternal age at first birth and measures of early socioemotional and cognitive development of children. The authors compare standard cross-sectional population estimates to estimates based on comparisons of first-cousins (i.e., family fixed effects estimates) in order to gauge the importance of bias from family background heterogeneity. Population estimates suggest moderate adverse consequences of teen motherhood for child development. However, children of teen mothers appear to score no worse on measures of development than their first-cousins born to women who had first births after their teen years. The estimates suggest that differences in family backgrounds of mothers (factors that preceded their childbearing years) can account for the low (measured) early socioemotional and cognitive development of children of teen mothers.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T., Sanders D. Korenman and Marianne M. Hillemeier. "Does Young Maternal Age Adversely Affect Child Development? Evidence from Cousin Comparisons." Presented: Denver, CO, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1992.
12. Geronimus, Arline T.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Hillemeier, Marianne M.
Does Young Maternal Age Adversely Affect Child Development? Evidence from Cousin Comparisons in the United States
Population and Development Review 20,3 (September 1994): 585-609
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Council
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Development; Childbearing, Adolescent; Disadvantaged, Economically; General Assessment; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Mothers, Adolescent; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings; Socioeconomic Factors; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale)

The construction of teenage childbearing as a public problem, and the degree to which it should be a source of social or policy concern, have been the subject of numerous empirical investigations, theoretical analyses, commentaries, and controversy. While we do not review this literature in detail here, we highlight what we believe to be the most important theoretical tension and social scientific question to emerge from it. The theoretical tension is between whether teenage mothers are best understood as teenagers or as socioeconomically disadvantaged women, given the overrepresentation of socioeconomically disadvantaged teenagers among the ranks of teenage mothers. The social scientific question is the extent to which teen childbearing contributes causally to the social problems with which it is associated. One important area of social concern is the potential consequences of teen childbearing for offspring. In this article, we focus on early childhood development. The literature on child development in the United States has documented that, on average, children of young mothers score more poorly on cognitive and socioemotional measures and are at higher risk of poor school achievement than children of older mothers. While some investigators do not control for socioeconomic status when comparing child outcomes across maternal ages, many do take socioeconomic differences into account.
Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T., Sanders D. Korenman and Marianne M. Hillemeier. "Does Young Maternal Age Adversely Affect Child Development? Evidence from Cousin Comparisons in the United States." Population and Development Review 20,3 (September 1994): 585-609.
13. Joyce, Theodore J.
Kaestner, Robert
Korenman, Sanders D.
On the Validity of Retrospective Assessments of Pregnancy Intention
NBER Working Paper, Baruch College, New York, NY and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, 2000
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics and Finance, Baruch College, CUNY
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Breastfeeding; Childbearing; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Fertility; Methods/Methodology; Pre-natal Care/Exposure; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes

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

Information on pregnancy intention is often gathered retrospectively (after the birth of the child). This paper investigated whether retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention leads to biased estimates of the consequences or extent of unintended fertility. Comparison is made between pregnancy intentions ascertained during pregnancy or after birth in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Such comparisons are found to be biased by selective recognition or acknowledgement or pregnancy. The longitudinal feature of the data is used to determine actual pregnancy status at interview, which in turn is used as an instrumental variable for prospective (versus retrospective) reporting of pregnancy intention. After correction for selective pregnancy recognition, there is no evidence that retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention produces misleading estimates of either the number of the consequences of unintended births. This finding is supported by additional analysis of a small subsample for which pregnancy intention information was collected both during pregnancy and after delivery.
Bibliography Citation
Joyce, Theodore J., Robert Kaestner and Sanders D. Korenman. "On the Validity of Retrospective Assessments of Pregnancy Intention." NBER Working Paper, Baruch College, New York, NY and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, 2000.
14. Joyce, Theodore J.
Kaestner, Robert
Korenman, Sanders D.
On the Validity of Retrospective Assessments of Pregnancy Intention
Demography 39,1 (February 2002): 199-213.
Also: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/demography/v039/39.1joyce.html
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Breastfeeding; Childbearing; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Fertility; Infants; Pre-natal Care/Exposure; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes

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

Information on pregnancy intention is often gathered retrospectively (after the birth of a child). This article investigates whether the retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention leads to biased estimates of the extent or consequences of unintended fertility. Comparisons are made between pregnancy intentions ascertained during pregnancy and after birth using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. To address the bias caused by selective recognition or acknowledgment of pregnancy, we used the longitudinal feature of the data to determine actual pregnancy status at the time of interviews, which, in turn, was used as an instrumental variable for the retrospective (versus prospective) reporting of pregnancy intention. After correction for selective pregnancy recognition, we found no evidence that the retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention produces misleading estimates of either the number or the consequences of unintended births. This finding is supported by additional analyses of a small subsample of women for whom information on pregnancy intention was collected both during pregnancy and after birth.
Bibliography Citation
Joyce, Theodore J., Robert Kaestner and Sanders D. Korenman. "On the Validity of Retrospective Assessments of Pregnancy Intention." Demography 39,1 (February 2002): 199-213.
15. Joyce, Theodore J.
Kaestner, Robert
Korenman, Sanders D.
Stability of Pregnancy Intentions and Pregnancy-Related Maternal Behaviors
Maternal and Child Health Journal 4,3 (September 2000): 171-178.
Also: http://www-us.ebsco.com/online/direct.asp?ArticleID=K1FLUG8TF79MGQBYVFV2
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: JAMA: Journals of the American Medical Association
Keyword(s): Breastfeeding; Child Health; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Fertility; Infants; Marital Status; Mothers, Behavior; Pre-natal Care/Exposure; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Socioeconomic Background

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

Objectives: Our objectives were to characterize the stability of pregnancy intention and to examine whether stability is associated with the timing of prenatal care initiation, smoking during pregnancy, and breastfeeding. Methods: We use a sample of women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) for whom information on pregnancy intention was collected both during pregnancy and after delivery. In bivariate analyses we compare outcomes and characteristics of women whose pregnancy intention changed between the prenatal and postpartum periods. With multivariate methods, we analyze the correlates of switching pregnancy intention as well as the association between switching and maternal behaviors. Results: Women whose pregnancy intention changes between the two assessments are similar in marital status and socioeconomic background to those who report both during pregnancy and after delivery that the pregnancy is unintended. Disagreement during pregnancy between the parents' pregnancy intentions is the most important predictor of instability in the mother's pregnancy intention. Effects of unintended pregnancy on the timing of initiation of prenatal care, smoking during pregnancy, and breastfeeding based on reports after delivery are smaller than those based on reports during pregnancy, although differences are not statistically significant. Adverse effects of unintended pregnancy are greater when pregnancies reported by the mother to be unintended at either assessment are combined into a single category for unintended pregnancy. Conclusion: Unstable pregnancy intention may be a marker for adverse maternal behaviors related to infant health.
Bibliography Citation
Joyce, Theodore J., Robert Kaestner and Sanders D. Korenman. "Stability of Pregnancy Intentions and Pregnancy-Related Maternal Behaviors." Maternal and Child Health Journal 4,3 (September 2000): 171-178.
16. Joyce, Theodore J.
Kaestner, Robert
Korenman, Sanders D.
The Effect of Pregnancy Intention on Child Development
Demography 37,1 (February 2000): 83-94.
Also: https://zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/faculty/profiles/papers/joyce1.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Birthweight; Child Health; Fertility; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Pre-natal Care/Exposure; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Siblings; Wantedness

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

In this paper, we use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to investigate the empirical link between unintended pregnancy and child health and development. An important contribution of our study is the use of information on siblings to control for unmeasured factors that may confound estimates of the effect of pregnancy intentions on infant and child outcomes. Results from our study indicate that unwanted pregnancy is associated with prenatal and postpartum maternal behaviors that adversely affect infant and child health, but that unwanted pregnancy has little association with birth weight and child cognitive outcomes. Estimates of the association between unwanted pregnancy and maternal behaviors were greatly reduced after controls for unmeasured family background were included in the model. Our results also indicate that there are no significant differences in maternal behaviors or child outcomes between mistimed and wanted pregnancies.
Bibliography Citation
Joyce, Theodore J., Robert Kaestner and Sanders D. Korenman. "The Effect of Pregnancy Intention on Child Development." Demography 37,1 (February 2000): 83-94.
17. Kaestner, Robert
Korenman, Sanders D.
O'Neill, June E.
Has Welfare Reform Changed Teenage Behaviors?
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 22,2 (Spring 2003): 225-248.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.10115/abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Behavior; Family Background and Culture; Fertility; Welfare; Well-Being

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

Data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 and 1997 cohorts were used to compare welfare use, fertility, educational attainment, and marriage among teenage women in the years before and immediately following welfare reform. The first objective was to document differences between these cohorts in welfare use and outcomes and behavior correlated with entry into welfare and with future economic and social well-being. The second objective was to investigate the causal role of welfare reform in behavioral change. Significant differences were found between cohorts in welfare use and in outcomes related to welfare use. Furthermore, difference-in-differences estimates suggest that welfare reform has been associated with reduced welfare receipt, reduced fertility, and reduced marriage among young women who, because of a disadvantaged family background, are at high risk of welfare receipt. Finally, in the post-welfare reform era, teenage mothers are less likely to receive welfare and are more likely to live with at least one parent than in the pre-reform era. Establishing more definitively that welfare reform is responsible for these changes will require further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright: 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
Bibliography Citation
Kaestner, Robert, Sanders D. Korenman and June E. O'Neill. "Has Welfare Reform Changed Teenage Behaviors?" Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 22,2 (Spring 2003): 225-248.
18. Korenman, Sanders D.
Empirical Explorations in the Economics of the Family
Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1988
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Discrimination; Gender Differences; Labor Force Participation; Marital Status; Marriage; Wages

This thesis explores the association between marriage and the wages of men and women, and the association between gender and consumption. Marriage is associated with higher wages for men. Three broad classes of hypotheses that are consistent with the marriage wage differential are explored: productivity, selectivity, and discrimination. Marriage wage premiums persist when detailed controls for worker and job characteristics are entered in wage equations. Wages rise with years married and fall with years divorced or separated. The differentials are also found within families (across brothers). The wages of single women do not exceed those of married women. Women with children earn less that those without children, but controlling for measures of labor force attachment and human capital lowers these differentials substantially. Although they are a select group, women who bear children and return quickly to employment suffer no loss of wages compared to childless women. Therefore, wage differentials between men and women having identical measured human capital should not be attributed to differences in labor market productivity that result from the greater household responsibilities of employed married women or women with children.
Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D. Empirical Explorations in the Economics of the Family. Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1988.
19. Korenman, Sanders D.
Kaestner, Robert
Work-Family Mismatch and Child Health and Well-Being: A Review of the Economics Research
In: Work, Family, Health, and Well-being. S. M. Bianchi, L. M. Casper, and R. B. King, eds. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2005: pp. 297-312
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates ==> Taylor & Francis
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Care; Child Health; Childbearing; Labor Supply; Maternal Employment; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC); Work History

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

Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D. and Robert Kaestner. "Work-Family Mismatch and Child Health and Well-Being: A Review of the Economics Research" In: Work, Family, Health, and Well-being. S. M. Bianchi, L. M. Casper, and R. B. King, eds. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2005: pp. 297-312
20. Korenman, Sanders D.
Kaestner, Robert
Work/Family Mismatch and Family Health: Some Comments on the Economics Literature
Presented: Washington, DC, NICHD Conference on Work/Family Mismatch, June 2003.
Also: http://www.popcenter.umd.edu/events/nichd/papers/korenman.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Care; Child Health; Childbearing; Labor Supply; Maternal Employment; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC); Work History

Introduction
How does the economics literature treat the consequences of work/family mismatches? Economists, especially health and labor economists, have long studied the trade-offs that families face and the decisions they make about childbearing and market labor supply. Economists are, therefore, quite used to thinking about workfamily "mismatch", the theme of the conference, as work-family trade-offs.
Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D. and Robert Kaestner. "Work/Family Mismatch and Family Health: Some Comments on the Economics Literature." Presented: Washington, DC, NICHD Conference on Work/Family Mismatch, June 2003.
21. Korenman, Sanders D.
Kaestner, Robert
Joyce, Theodore J.
Consequences for Infants of Parental Disagreement in Pregnancy Intention
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 34,4 (July-August 2002): 198-205.
Also: https://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3419802.html
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Alan Guttmacher Institute
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Breastfeeding; Child Health; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Fertility; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Household Composition; Infants; Marital Status; Mothers, Behavior; Mothers, Health; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Wantedness

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

CONTEXT: Despite the well-established literature on couples' pregnancy intention and on the consequences of unintended pregnancy, the effects of parents' disagreement in fertility intentions has not been explored. Parental disagreement in pregnancy intention,as well as a father's pregnancy intention, may affect infant health.

RESULTS: Infants whose conception was intended by their mother but not their father are at elevated risk of adverse health events. When a pregnancy was not intended by the mother, the risks are higher than they are if both parents intended the pregnancy, but they differ little according to the father's intention. Thus, it may be useful to classify pregnancies as intended by both parents or not intended by at least one. In comparisons of siblings, unintended fertility (so defined) is associated with delayed prenatal care and reduced initiation of breastfeeding.

CONCLUSION: Information on both parent's fertility intentions is needed to identify infants at risk of adverse health and developmental outcomes.

Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D., Robert Kaestner and Theodore J. Joyce. "Consequences for Infants of Parental Disagreement in Pregnancy Intention." Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 34,4 (July-August 2002): 198-205.
22. Korenman, Sanders D.
Kaestner, Robert
Joyce, Theodore J.
Unintended Pregnancy and the Consequences of Non-Marital Childbearing
Presented: Los Angeles, CA, Population Association of America Meetings, March 2000
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Abortion; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Birthweight; Breastfeeding; Child Development; Child Support; Childbearing; Marital Status; Modeling; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings; Variables, Instrumental

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

We estimate consequences of non-marital childbearing for infant health and child development, including the first estimates of these effects based on comparisons of siblings or first cousins. We also estimate effects of non-marital births by treating non-martial births that result from unintended pregnancies as exogenously determined. To bolster the case for exogeneity, in some models we use information on the availability of abortion services and indicators of state child support policies and enforcement as instrumental variables for pregnancy intention and marital status. Estimates from models with standard controls for mother's family background suggest that non-marital childbearing delays prenatal care initiation, lowers birth weight, increases smoking during pregnancy, reduces breastfeeding, and, according to several indicators, adversely affects child development. However, comparisons of siblings and first cousins suggest that these estimates exaggerate the adverse consequences of non-marital childbearing for children. Evidence of substantial adverse effects remains in comparisons of siblings and first cousins in two cases: elevated risks of smoking during pregnancy among divorced mothers, and reduced breastfeeding among never married mothers. Evidence for an effect of non-marital childbearing on child development is weaker.
Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D., Robert Kaestner and Theodore J. Joyce. "Unintended Pregnancy and the Consequences of Non-Marital Childbearing." Presented: Los Angeles, CA, Population Association of America Meetings, March 2000.
23. Korenman, Sanders D.
Miller, Jane E.
Effects of Long-Term Poverty on Physical Health of Children in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
In: Consequences of Growing Up Poor. G.J. Duncan and J. Brooks-Gunn, eds. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 1997: pp. 70-99
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Body Mass Index (BMI); Child Health; Family Structure; Height, Height-Weight Ratios; Income; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Nutritional Status/Nutrition/Consumption Behaviors; Obesity; Poverty; Siblings; Weight

In this chapter, we use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), 1979-91, that provide background information on socioeconomic characteristics and annual data on income and family structure for a nationally representative sample of women selected in 1979. In combination with assessments of the health and development of the children born to this cohort of women, these data provide and excellent opportunity to investigate the effect of poverty dynamics on children's physical health and development in the United States (for example, Chase-Landsdale et al. 1991). We investigate the relations between income and timing or duration of poverty on the one hand and indicators of nutritional status and motor and social development (MSD) on the other. (The MSD index provides a measure of how a child's physical, language, and motor skills compare to standards for children of the same age.) Better estimates of the relationships between poverty history and child health may aid n the formulation of health and social policies. For example, identifying ages at which children are most vulnerable to the effects of poverty may allow resources to be targeted effectively, as demonstrated by the age range of children, youth, and young adults studied in this volume (Children's Defense Fund 1994). p. 71
Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D. and Jane E. Miller. "Effects of Long-Term Poverty on Physical Health of Children in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth" In: Consequences of Growing Up Poor. G.J. Duncan and J. Brooks-Gunn, eds. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 1997: pp. 70-99
24. Korenman, Sanders D.
Miller, Jane E.
Sjaastad, John E.
Long-Term Poverty and Child Development in the United States: Results from the NLSY
Children and Youth Services Review 17,1/2 (1995): 127-155.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/019074099500006X
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Alcohol Use; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Birthweight; Child Development; Child Health; Children, Home Environment; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Family Structure; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Marital Status; Memory for Digit Span (WISC) - also see Digit Span; Mothers, Behavior; Mothers, Education; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale)

Korenman, Miller, and Sjaastad found that the differences in the abilities of the poor and nonpoor children were not due to differences in the education of the children's mothers, the structure of the children's families (e.g., number of siblings), or whether a child's mother smoked or drank during pregnancy; nor were they explained by the health of the child in infancy or the age of the children's mothers when they first gave birth. The amount of emotional support and cognitive stimulation in a child's home, however, had a major impact on his or her development. The home environment accounted for one-third to one-half of the developmental disadvantage of chronically poor children (children from families whose income-to-needs ratio was below 1.0 over a thirteen-year period). Data used are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which tested children on such things as short-term memory, vocabulary, mathematics, reading comprehension, and word recognition. Sample sizes ranged from 1939 children to 3826 children, depending on the test. The children were tested during their pre-teenage years; most tests were given to children when they were younger than ten years.
Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D., Jane E. Miller and John E. Sjaastad. "Long-Term Poverty and Child Development in the United States: Results from the NLSY." Children and Youth Services Review 17,1/2 (1995): 127-155.
25. Korenman, Sanders D.
Neumark, David B.
Does Marriage Really Make Men More Productive?
Journal of Human Resources 26,2 (Spring 1991): 282-307.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/145924
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Discrimination; Earnings; Marital Status; Marriage; Occupational Status; Wages

This paper examines hypothesized labor market productivity differentials among men of different marital statuses. Utilizing data from the NLS of Young Men, it attempts to distinguish empirically among three competing hypotheses surrounding the large hourly wage premiums (10-40 percent, controlling for observable worker and job characteristics) paid to married men in comparison to never married men. The hypotheses are: productivity-enhancing effects of marriage, selection of "more productive" men into the married state, and discrimination. To the extent that the data allow us to distinguish among the three, they suggest that selection accounts for somewhat less than half of the differential, and discrimination accounts for none of it.
Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D. and David B. Neumark. "Does Marriage Really Make Men More Productive?" Journal of Human Resources 26,2 (Spring 1991): 282-307.
26. Korenman, Sanders D.
Neumark, David B.
Is Superwoman a Myth? Marriage, Children, and Wages
Working Paper No. 94, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1989
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: Federal Reserve Board
Keyword(s): Children; Gender Differences; Human Capital; Marital Status; Marriage; Wages; Work Attachment

This paper explores the relationships between marriage, children, and women's wages. It considers Becker's (1985) hypothesis that household responsibilities reduce the labor market productivity of married women relative to men or single women with comparable labor market human capital. Using a sample drawn from the NLS of Young Women, the authors explore potential biases in estimates of these relationships, including what is believed to be the first longitudinal analyses. No evidence was found that married women have lower labor market productivity than comparable single women. In addition, once account is taken of the effects of children on labor force attachment, there is no consistent association between children and women's wages. The findings suggest that wage differentials between men and women with similar human capital should not be attributed to the greater home responsibilities of married women.
Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D. and David B. Neumark. "Is Superwoman a Myth? Marriage, Children, and Wages." Working Paper No. 94, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1989.
27. Korenman, Sanders D.
Neumark, David B.
Marriage, Motherhood, and Wages
Journal of Human Resources 27,2 (Spring 1992): 233-255.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/145734
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA); Endogeneity; Heterogeneity; Job Tenure; Marriage; Motherhood; Variables, Instrumental; Wage Equations; Wages, Women; Work Experience

Cross-sectional studies find little association between a woman's marital status and her wage rate, but often a negative relationship between children and wages. Several problems in drawing causal inferences from cross-sectional relationships between marriage, motherhood, and wages are analyzed using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Women. It is found that heterogeneity leads to biased estimates of the "direct" effects of marriage and motherhood on wages (i.e., effects net of experience and tenure); first-difference estimates reveal no direct effect of marriage or motherhood on women's wages. Statistical evidence is also found that experience and tenure may be endogenous variables in wage equations; instrumental variables estimates suggest that both ordinary least squares cross-sectional and first-difference estimates understate the direct (negative) effect of children on wages.
Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D. and David B. Neumark. "Marriage, Motherhood, and Wages." Journal of Human Resources 27,2 (Spring 1992): 233-255.
28. Korenman, Sanders D.
Winship, Christopher
A Reanalysis of The Bell Curve
NBER Working Paper No. 5230, National Bureau of Economic Research, August 1995.
Also: http://papers.nber.org/papers/w5230
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Crime; Family Background and Culture; I.Q.; Marriage; Parents, Single; Siblings; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Welfare

In The Bell Curve Herrnstein and Murray argue that a youth's intelligence (IQ) is a more important determinant of social and economic success in adulthood than is the socioeconomic status (SES) of his or her parents. Herrnstein and Murray base this conclusion on comparison of effects of IQ score (measured at ages 15 and 23) and the effects of an index of parents' SES from models of economic status, marriage, welfare use, involvement in crime, as well as several outcomes for young children. Reviewers of The Bell Curve have questioned whether Herrnstein and Murray's estimates of the effects of IQ are overstated by their use of a rather crude measure of parents' SES. Comparisons of siblings in the Herrnstein and Murray sample, a more complete and accurate way to control for family background, reveal little evidence that Herrnstein and Murray's estimates of the effects of IQ score are biased by omitted family background characteristics (with the possible exception of outcomes for young children). However, there is evidence of substantial bias due to measurement error in their estimates of the effects of parents' socioeconomic status. In addition, Herrnstein and Murray's measure of parental SES fails to capture the effects of important elements of family background (such as single-parent family structure at age 14). As a result, their analysis gives an exaggerated impression of the importance of IQ relative to parents' SES, and relative to family background more generally. Estimates based on a variety of methods, including analyses of siblings, suggest that parental family background is at least as important, and may be more important than IQ in determining socioeconomic success in adulthood. This paper is available in PDF (1578 K) format: http://papers.nber.org/papers/W5230.pdf
Bibliography Citation
Korenman, Sanders D. and Christopher Winship. "A Reanalysis of The Bell Curve." NBER Working Paper No. 5230, National Bureau of Economic Research, August 1995.
29. Miller, Jane E.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Long-Term Poverty, Children's Nutritional Status and Growth in the U.S.
Presented: Cincinnati, OH, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1993
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Birthweight; Child Health; Children; Height; Height, Height-Weight Ratios; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Nutritional Status/Nutrition/Consumption Behaviors; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale); Weight

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

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we estimate relations among poverty nutritional status and growth of children under age five in the U.S. Long-term (10-year) poverty measures are shown to be more strongly related than short-term measures to the prevalence of "stunting" (low height-for-age) and "wasting" (low weight-for-height). Children from chronically poor families are about 40 percent more likely to be stunted and about 45 percent more likely to be wasted than children from middle income families. Both small size at birth and slower growth after birth appear to contribute to the poor nutritional status of low income children. In our sample, over 10 percent of infants born to chronically poor women are low birthweight compared to only 4.5 percent of infants born to middle-income women. Low-income children also exhibit slower rates of growth in both height and weight. We also estimate multivariate models in order to shed light on the mechanisms whereby long term poverty leads to poor nutritional status among young children.
Bibliography Citation
Miller, Jane E. and Sanders D. Korenman. "Long-Term Poverty, Children's Nutritional Status and Growth in the U.S." Presented: Cincinnati, OH, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1993.
30. Miller, Jane E.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Poverty and Children's Nutritional Status in the United States
American Journal of Epidemiology 140,3 (1 August 1994): 233-243.
Also: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/140/3/233.abstract
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Birthweight; Child Health; Family Structure; Height; Height, Height-Weight Ratios; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Income Level; Marital Status; Minorities; Mothers, Education; Mothers, Height; Nutritional Status/Nutrition/Consumption Behaviors; Parents, Single; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale); Weight

This study describes deficits in nutritional status among poor children in the United States using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for children born between 1979 and 1988. The prevalence of low height-for-age (stunting) and low weight-for-height (wasting) is higher among children in persistently poor families. Differentials appear greater according to long-term rather than short-term income; hence, single-year income measures do not adequately capture the effects of persistent poverty on children's nutritional status. Differences in nutritional status between poor and nonpoor children remain large even when controls for other characteristics associated with poverty, such as low maternal educational attainment, single-parent family structure, young maternal age,low maternal academic ability, and minority racial identification, are included. The excess risks of stunting and wasting among poor children are not reduced appreciably when size of the infant at birth or mother's height and weight are controlled.
Bibliography Citation
Miller, Jane E. and Sanders D. Korenman. "Poverty and Children's Nutritional Status in the United States." American Journal of Epidemiology 140,3 (1 August 1994): 233-243.
31. Miller, Jane E.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Poverty Dynamics and Cognitive Development Among Young Children
Presented: San Francisco, CA, Population Association of America Meetings, 1995
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Children, Preschool; Cognitive Development; Disadvantaged, Economically; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Income; Mothers, Education; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Parents, Single; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Social Influences; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale)

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

We use prospectively collected information from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979-198 to estimate the relation between timing of poverty and several measures of children's cognitive development, including tests of picture vocabulary, reading, mathematics, and motor and social development. Deficits are greatest among children who were poor between birth and age three; deficit are also notable for the prenatally poor. Differentials according to poverty status remain sizeable even in models that also control for other correlates of poverty, including low mother's educational attainment, young age at first birth and single parent family structure. There is evidence that deficit associated with poverty are persistent, cumulative, and interactive across age intervals. Aspects of the home environment measured by the HOME score is a significant mediator between economic deprivation and cognitive development. Maternal academic aptitude is also associated with both poverty and developmental scores.
Bibliography Citation
Miller, Jane E. and Sanders D. Korenman. "Poverty Dynamics and Cognitive Development Among Young Children." Presented: San Francisco, CA, Population Association of America Meetings, 1995.
32. Miller, Jane E.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Poverty Dynamics and Cognitive Development Among Young Children
Working Paper, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick NJ, August 1994
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, Rutgers Univeristy
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Cognitive Development; Marital Status; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale)

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

Data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth revealed a strong correlation between economic deprivation in the home environment and measures of child cognitive development. Over 25% of the children born to survey participants in 1978-88 were born into households below the poverty level; moreover, 7-15% of those in households currently characterized as non-poor were poor at some point in the child's early life. Poverty between birth and age two years was associated with the most pronounced deficits in areas such as picture vocabulary, reading, mathematics, and motor and social development. Math scores for children currently age five years and over were lower among children who had been poor the first three years of life, suggesting the persistence of the effects of early deprivation. Most severely handicapped were children who had lived in poverty from birth through the year of assessment, and deficits associated with being poor in more than one age interval exceeded the sum of being poor in each of those intervals. Although controls for maternal educational attainment, age at first birth, family structure, race, gender, and birth order did not change this trend, selected characteristics of the home environment (e.g., mother-child interaction, cognitive stimulation, emotional support, and disciplinary methods) mediated the relationship between poverty and child development. These findings underscore the importance of social policy reform that targets children in low-income families as well as early childhood stimulation programs.
Bibliography Citation
Miller, Jane E. and Sanders D. Korenman. "Poverty Dynamics and Cognitive Development Among Young Children." Working Paper, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick NJ, August 1994.
33. Miller, Jane E.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Poverty, Nutritional Status, Growth and Cognitive Development of Children in the United States
Working Paper No. 93-5, Princeton NJ: Office of Population Research, Princeton University, 1993
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Office of Population Research, Princeton University
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Birthweight; Child Development; Child Health; Childhood Education, Early; Children, Academic Development; Cognitive Ability; Cognitive Development; Health, Mental/Psychological; Height; Height, Height-Weight Ratios; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Mothers, Height; Nutritional Status/Nutrition/Consumption Behaviors; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale); Weight; Well-Being

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

This paper describes deficits in nutritional status, physical growth, and cognitive development among poor children in the United States. Data are taken from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which has collected measures of family income each year from 1978 to 1990, and measures of height, weight, and cognitive development of children in 1986, 1988, and 1990. The results suggest that, first, there are substantial nutritional and developmental costs to children in chronically poor families; second, single-year income measures do not adequately capture the effects of chronic poverty on child nutritional status and cognitive development; and third, the adverse effects of chronic poverty are large even when we control for other characteristics associated with poverty such as low educational attainment of mothers, family structure, young maternal age, low academic ability of mother, minority racial identification, and when we control for weight and height of the mother and size of the infant at birth. Both long-term poverty and poor nutritional status are associated with impaired cognitive and socioemotional development in early childhood. Further research is needed before definitive, causal statements can be made. Nonetheless, we find evidence that, compared to children from higher-income families, poor children are at heightened risk of wasting, stunting and cognitive impairment, and experience reduced rates of physical growth in early childhood.
Bibliography Citation
Miller, Jane E. and Sanders D. Korenman. "Poverty, Nutritional Status, Growth and Cognitive Development of Children in the United States." Working Paper No. 93-5, Princeton NJ: Office of Population Research, Princeton University, 1993.
34. Neumark, David B.
Korenman, Sanders D.
Sources of Bias in Women's Wage Equations: Results Using Sibling Data
NBER Working Paper No. 4019, National Bureau of Economic Research, March 1992.
Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W4019
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Endogeneity; Family Size; Gender Differences; Job Tenure; Marital Status; Racial Differences; Siblings; Simultaneity; Wage Equations; Wages, Women; Work Experience

We use data on sisters to jointly address heterogeneity bias and endogeneity bias in estimates of wage equations for women. This analysis yields evidence of biases in OLS estimates of wage equations for white and black women, some of which are detected only when these two sources of bias are addressed simultaneously. For both white and black women there is evidence of upward bias in the estimated returns to schooling. Bias-corrected estimates of the effect of marriage on wages, for white women, suggest a positive marriage premium. We also use the sibling data to identify our models, and test a number of other commonly used identifying assumptions as overidentifying restrictions.
Bibliography Citation
Neumark, David B. and Sanders D. Korenman. "Sources of Bias in Women's Wage Equations: Results Using Sibling Data." NBER Working Paper No. 4019, National Bureau of Economic Research, March 1992.