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Title: The Impact of Early Fertility Desires on Union Formation and Timing
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Nitsche, Natalie
Hayford, Sarah R.
The Impact of Early Fertility Desires on Union Formation and Timing
Presented: Washington DC, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, March-April 2016
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Cohabitation; Family Formation; Fertility; Marriage

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

While it is well known that early fertility desires affect childbearing behavior, it is not yet understood whether these early preferences may also affect women's union formation behavior. Drawing on data from the NLSY79, our study extends the literature by investigating whether the desired number of children during early adulthood is linked to whether and when women form stable unions over the course of their lives. We furthermore investigate whether this preference-behavior relationship varies across educational attainment and may be one missing link to understanding educational differentials in family formation behavior. First findings indeed show a significant relationship between these early desires and subsequent marriage behavior. Women who desire to remain childless marry less often, and significantly later than their counterparts who desire to become mothers.
Bibliography Citation
Nitsche, Natalie and Sarah R. Hayford. "The Impact of Early Fertility Desires on Union Formation and Timing." Presented: Washington DC, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, March-April 2016.