Following the ongoing increase in nonmarital fertility, policy makers have looked for ways to limit the disadvantages faced by children of unmarried mothers. Recent initiatives included marriage promotion and welfare-to-work programs. Yet policy might also consider the promotion of three generational households. We know little about whether…

Using data on low-income mothers in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio, we test three propositions regarding mothers' attitudes toward childbearing, marriage, and divorce. These are drawn from K. Edin and M. J. Kefalas (2005) but have also arisen in other recent studies. We find strong support for the proposition that childbearing outside of…

Two aspects of teenage fertility are examined in this paper: (1) teenage fertility, in general, does not follow the conventional family formation process in which conception follows marriage; and (2) there are considerable differences between White and non-White teenagers in proportions either pregnant outside of marriage or single at delivery.…

Today, among adolescents, childbearing may precede rather than follow marriage. Evidence suggests that adolescent childbearers now rely heavily on their families to provide needed support. Among a sample of 320 adolescent, mostly black mothers from low-income families, most spent a majority of their early years of parenthood in an extended family…

Noting that the preceding two decades have seen a dramatic growth in the proportion of families that are headed by women, this book explores the causes and implications of this development. The book bring together information on the past and present prevalence of mother-headed families in different countries. It then considers the various…

Contends that, in the public's perception, much of adolescents' trouble today can be traced to deterioration in the quality of family life. Reports on a study of education completion and marriage. Finds that females living with mothers only, who complete their senior year in high school, actually have higher educational attainment and later…