This study examines how becoming a parent affects the lives of young men and women during the 7-year period following their graduation from high school. The study is based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS), a large panel study of over 22,000 high school seniors who were the subjects of four follow-up surveys in 1973, 1974, 1976, and 1979. The research focuses on two subpopulations of the NLS: the over 8,000 participants who became parents by late 1979, and the approximately 5,000 who married but were childless at that time. Primary interests of the investigation were the educational and employment activities of the young adults. Also explored were the effects of parenthood on participation in political affairs and community groups, marital stability, financial well-being, and several attitudinal measures, including educational and career expectations. The principal finding was that young couples who became parents in the 1970s, like those in previous decades, modified their lifestyles in accordance with traditional family roles--the women serving as homemakers and mothers and the men as breadwinners. On the whole, they have met the demands and responsibilities of parenthood without changing their views of who they are or what they wish to accomplish. (RH)