This article examines the literature on schooling for teenage mothers in order to expose the normalizing discourses that position young mothers as at risk for failure. Through an exploration of the historical and socio-cultural positioning of teenage mothers over the past few decades, the author illustrates the schooled responses to adolescent…

In this article the authors call attention to the 1965 report, "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action," published by then Assistant Secretary to the Labor Department, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Fifty years later, these authors suggest that, in retrospect, Moynihan understood that the emerging pattern he noted was troubling above…

In his 1965 report on the black family, Daniel Patrick Moynihan highlighted the rising fraction of black children growing up in households headed by unmarried mothers. He attributed the increase largely to the precarious economic position of black men, many of whom were no longer able to play their traditional role as their family's primary…

This paper examines two aspects of teen childbearing in the United States. First, it reviews and synthesizes the evidence on the reasons why teen birth rates are so uniquely high in the United States and especially in some states. Second, it considers why and how it matters. We argue that economists' typical explanations are unable to account for…

This study analyzed trends in marital behavior for unwed mothers who gave birth between 1960 and 2004. With nationally representative data on 15,353 White and Black unmarried mothers, results indicated that mothers who gave birth after 1989 were waiting much longer to marry than were mothers giving birth before 1968. The most pronounced delays…

The purpose of this article is to examine work-family conflict among low-income, unmarried mothers. Analyzing the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national sample of nonmarital births, I examine how social capital affects work-family conflict and how both social capital and work-family conflict affect employment. Results show that…

The promotion of marriage and two-parent families became an explicit public policy goal with the passage of the 1996 welfare reform bill. Marriage has the putative effect of reducing welfare dependency among single mothers, but only if they marry men with earnings sufficient to lift them and their children out of poverty. Newly released data from…

We apply marital search theory to examine whether out-of-wedlock childbearing affects mate selection patterns among American women. Using 1980-1995 CPS data, we apply probit models with selection to account for potential selection bias due to differences in "marriageability" between women in and not in unions. Compared to those without unmarried…

This document reports on the feasibility of requiring private insurance carriers to provide coverage of the pregnancy-related expenses of dependent minors and newborn care expenses of their offspring in Texas. The document relates the history of legislative interest in the topic of teenage pregnancy. The report states that although private medical…

We compare contemporaneous and retrospective reports of cohabitation among unmarried mothers in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing survey (N = 2,524). We find that (a) many mothers revise their reports of whether they cohabited at the time of the birth of their child and (b) revisions in reports are systematically related to individuals'…

Evaluated effects of a year-long, school-based program for 126 white adolescent girls. Program was designed to improve self-concept, expectations for future, educational plans, perceptions of maternal acceptance, and other perceptions. Intervention participants revealed less traditional sex role orientations, improved self-concept, and lessened…

Examines narratives and novels written for young adults that deal with teenage pregnancy and parenting. Discusses eight common messages found in 17 such short stories and books, and notes three areas of significant silence. (SR)

Utilizing a biographical approach and network analysis, this article examines one South Australian woman's life of public and Methodist social welfare service in the post-suffrage era. It is argued that although Kate Cocks (1875-1954) viewed her welfare work as "a God-given mission", as "practical Christian service", personal…

There is a high correlation between adolescent women's educational skills, goals, and family income and the likelihood of pregnancy. Schools have a statutory duty to provide health instruction; this may include pregnancy-prevention programs. Includes discussion of Acquired Immune Defficiency Syndrom (AIDS) and school responsibility for educational…

Welfare work programs are a form of welfare fraud. They engender little change compared to the resources that go into them. The most promising policies for reducing welfare roles are the following: (1) support of children by absent parents; (2) tax credit systems; (3) improvements in public education; and (4) provision of health care. (VM)