Precursors of Young Women's Family Formation Pathways

Children's Transitions to Adulthood and Midlife Parents' Depressive Symptoms and Activities of Daily Living Conditions in the United States

BACKGROUND

Parents and children are close over the life course. However, these relationships often change as parents age and children enter adulthood. Today, the entrance into adulthood for children has become delayed and increasingly unstable. Such changes may interrupt the child's acquisition of resources used to support themselves and their midlife parents, having implications for parents' mental and physical health. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of adult children's transitions to adulthood on parents' mental and physical health.

METHODS

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and the Add Health Parent Study (AHPS), we investigated how certain transitions to adulthood (e.g., education, marriage, residential independence, employment, parenthood, and incarceration) for children were linked to the mental and physical health of their midlife parents.

RESULTS

In sum, we found that children's educational attainment was linked to fewer activities of daily living (ADL) limitations and depressive symptoms among parents. Children's marriage and employment were also associated with fewer ADL limitations among parents.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings reveal that adult children's circumstances are associated with the mental and physical health of their midlife parents.

Union and Family Formation During Young Adulthood: Insights From the Add Health

Family formation patterns among US young adults are shifting, reflecting an accelerating retreat from marriage coupled with significant increases in cohabitation and nonmarital childbearing. Drawing on a selection of published longitudinal studies, this article reviews key contributions to the literature on these trends in union and family formation that have stemmed from research conducted using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, or Add Health. Add Health is integral to deciphering the adolescent precursors to young adult union formation and childbearing, allowing researchers to gauge the roles of multiple social contexts such as family, schools, peers, and adolescent romance, with attention to variation across racial-ethnic groups and by socioeconomic status. In turn, researchers use Add Health to assess how young adult family formation behaviors are related to numerous indicators of health and well-being, ranging from mental and physical health to relationship quality and stability, interpersonal violence, and crime. With its sibling and couples samples, genetic data, and detailed partnership histories for both different- and same-sex relationships, Add Health is an invaluable data source for tracking the familial experiences (formation and dissolution) of a large cohort from adolescence into middle age.

Work-family trajectories in young adulthood: Associations with mental health problems in adolescence

During young adulthood, several transitions in work and family lives occur, but knowledge of the work-family trajectories of the current generation of young adults, i.e. people born in the 1990s, is lacking. Moreover, little is known about whether the mental health status before the start of the working life may shape work-family trajectories. We used 18-year follow-up data from the TRAILS cohort study of individuals born between 1989 and 1991 (n = 992; 63.2% women). Internalising and externalising problems were measured with the Youth Self-Report at ages 11, 13 and 16 years. Monthly employment, education and parenthood states were recorded between 18 and 28 years. Applying sequence analysis, we identified six work-family trajectories in women and men. The first five trajectories were labelled: long education, continuous education and work, education and work to work, early work, and inactive. The main difference between trajectories of women and men was in the timing of parenthood, thus the remaining trajectory of women was labelled active with children, and the remaining trajectory of men active. Women who experienced externalising problems in adolescence were more likely to belong to the trajectory characterised by parenthood. Men who experienced internalising problems in adolescence were more likely to belong to the trajectory characterised by a long time spent in education. The TRAILS data allowed us to consider timing, duration and ordering of the work and family states in young adulthood, and to use multiple assessments of mental health in adolescence. Further research needs to examine the mechanisms through which early mental health affects later work and family outcomes.

What a (Young) Woman Wants: Concurrent Effects of Desire to Avoid Pregnancy and Desire for Sex on Sexual Intercourse and Contraceptive Use

Of all pregnancies among young women in the United States, more than 60% are undesired, yet explanations for this phenomenon remain elusive. While research has investigated how pregnancy desires and intentions shape pregnancy-related behavior, only recently have scholars noted that desire for sex influences these same behaviors. Many young women simultaneously experience strong desires for sex alongside a strong desire to avoid pregnancy, but few studies have considered the extent to which young women adapt their reproductive behaviors in response to these potentially competing desires. Using novel weekly panel data, this analysis assesses how desires for sex may moderate the effect of the desire to avoid pregnancy on a young woman's sexual behavior and contraceptive use. Findings suggest that when a woman strongly wants to avoid pregnancy, she is less likely to have sex and more likely to use hormonal or coital contraceptives. As her desire for sex increases, however, she is instead more likely to have sex and use hormonal contraceptives. If she does not use hormonal methods, she is less likely to use coital contraceptives when she has intercourse. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing the desire for sex as a behavioral modifier for avoiding undesired pregnancy in the transition to adulthood.

Work and Family Pathways and Their Associations with Health for Young Women in Korea

The aim of this study is two-fold: to discern patterns in pathways of work and family transitions among young women (aged 24-39 years) whose decisions and behaviors toward labor force participation, marriage, and parenthood are considerably shaped by social constraints and gender norms; and to examine whether and to what extent work and family pathways are associated with later health. Using data from a longitudinal survey based on a large sample of adult women in Korea (N = 2418), we identified eight dominant pathways of employment, marriage, and parenthood among young women and found that educational attainment and family values are strong predictors of these work-family pathways. We also found that the timing and sequencing of work-family pathways appears to be associated with later health outcomes. In particular, unemployed women who are not married and do not have children seem to be vulnerable to health problems, compared to those with other pathways. We discuss the implications of our findings regarding the occurrence of work and/or family transitions, as well as their timing and sequencing for women's health in later life.

Work-family trajectories and health: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Work and family lives interact in complex ways across individuals' life courses. In the past decade, many studies constructed work-family trajectories, some also examined the relation with health. The aims of this systematic review were to summarise the evidence from studies constructing work-family trajectories, and to synthesise the evidence on the association between work-family trajectories and health.

METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, SocINDEX and Web of Science databases. Key search terms related to work, family and trajectories. Studies that built combined work-family trajectories or examined the relationship between work and family trajectories were included. Risk of bias was assessed independently by two authors. The identified work-family trajectories were summarised and presented for men and women, age cohorts and contexts. The evidence on the association with health as antecedent or consequence was synthesised.

RESULTS

Forty-eight studies, based on 29 unique data sources, were included. Thirty-two studies (67%) were published in 2015 or later, and sequence analysis was the primary analytic technique used to construct the trajectories (n = 43, 90%). Trajectories of women were found to be more diverse and complex in comparison with men. Work-family trajectories differed by age cohorts and contexts. Twenty-three studies (48%) examined the association between work-family trajectories and health and most of these studies found significant associations. The results indicate that work-family trajectories characterised by an early transition to parenthood, single parenthood, and weak ties to employment are associated with worse health outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Work-family trajectories differed greatly between men and women, but differences seemed to decrease in the youngest cohorts. Given the current changes in labour markets and family formation processes, it is important to investigate the work and family lives of younger cohorts. Work-family trajectories were associated with health at different life stages. Future research should examine longitudinal associations of work-family trajectories with health and focus on elucidating why and under which circumstances some trajectories are associated with better or worse health compared with other trajectories.

Individual differences in the development of youth externalizing problems predict a broad range of adult psychosocial outcomes

This study examined how youth aggressive and delinquent externalizing problem behaviors across childhood and adolescence are connected to consequential psychosocial life outcomes in adulthood. Using data from a longitudinal, high-risk sample (N = 1069) that assessed children and their parents regularly from early childhood (ages 3-5) through adulthood, multilevel growth factors of externalizing behaviors were used to predict adult outcomes (age 24-31), providing a sense of how externalizing problems across development were related to these outcomes via maternal, paternal, teacher, and child report. Findings indicated strong support for the lasting connections between youth externalizing problems with later educational attainment and legal difficulties, spanning informants and enduring beyond other meaningful contributors (i.e., child sex, cognitive ability, parental income and education, parental mental health and relationship quality). Some support was also found, although less consistently, linking externalizing problems and later alcohol use as well as romantic relationship quality. Delinquent/rule-breaking behaviors were often stronger predictors of later outcomes than aggressive behaviors. Taken together, these results indicate the importance of the role youth externalizing behaviors have in adult psychosocial functioning one to two decades later.

Continuity and Change in U.S. Children's Family Composition, 1968-2017

We document changes in U.S. children's family household composition from 1968 to 2017 with regard to the number and types of kin that children lived with and the frequency of family members' household entrances and departures. Data are from the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 30,412). Children experienced three decades of increasing instability and diversification in household membership, arriving at a state of "stable complexity" in the most recent decade. Stable complexity is distinguished by a decline in the number of coresident parents; a higher number of stepparents, grandparents, and other relatives in children's households; and less turnover in household membership compared with prior decades, including fewer sibling departures. College-educated households with children were consistently the most stable and least diverse. On several dimensions, household composition has become increasingly similar for non-Hispanic Black and White children. Children in Hispanic households are distinct in having larger family sizes and more expected household entrances and departures by coresident kin.

Adolescent reproductive attitudes and knowledge effects on early adult unintended and nonmarital fertility across gender

Theory and evidence suggest strong short-term effects of attitudes toward, and knowledge about, reproduction on women's fertility. Adolescent attitudes and knowledge may also have longer-term implications about the contexts women perceive as appropriate for childbearing and their capacity to manage their preferences. Although previous research on men's fertility is limited, theory would suggest the links between adolescent attitudes and knowledge and subsequent fertility would also exist for men (though perhaps in different ways given the gendered meanings of sex, contraception, and reproduction). We analyze the relationship between reproductive attitudes and knowledge in adolescence and unintended and nonmarital first and second births in early adulthood, using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 9,431). Adolescent reproductive attitudes, especially life course consequences of early childbearing, predict the intendedness and marital status of first and second births. Adolescent reproductive knowledge is more often linked to the context of second births than first births. These associations vary by gender, but the overall results suggest that fertility schemas developed during adolescence predict behavior into early adulthood.

Socio-Economic Differences in the Prevalence of Single Motherhood in North America and Europe

The study focuses on understanding the association between parental socio-economic status (SES) and the likelihood of women experiencing a first birth while single, and identifying societal factors that influence this association in 18 North American and European societies. Previous research has shown that single motherhood occurs disproportionately among those from with lower a lower parental SES. The study assesses whether this is caused by parental SES differences in the risk of single women experiencing a first conception leading to a live birth or by parental SES differences in how likely women are to enter a union during pregnancy. Additionally, an assessment is made of whether cross-national differences in these associations can be explained by a country’s access to family planning, norms regarding family formation, and economic inequality. Across countries, a negative gradient of parental SES was found on the likelihood of single women to experience a first pregnancy. The negative gradient was stronger in countries with better access to family planning. In some countries, the negative gradient of parental SES was aggravated during pregnancy because women from lower parental SES were less likely to enter a union. This was mostly found in societies with less conservative norms regarding marriage. The results suggest that certain developments in Western societies may increase socio-economic differentials in family demography.

Having a child within a cohabiting union in Europe and North America: What is the role of parents' socio-economic status?

The link between parental socio-economic status (SES) and the likelihood of having a birth in cohabitation or in marriage varies considerably across countries. Previous studies have referred to the pattern of disadvantage perspective and the second demographic transition theory to explain this cross-national variation. Yet no study has directly tested the explanatory power of both theories in this context. In the current study, hypotheses are formulated about the influence of economic inequality and norms regarding family formation on this relationship. The hypotheses are tested in 19 European and North American countries, using data of the Generations and Gender Survey and four other datasets. The analyses show that in societies that have more traditional family formation norms, women with lower parental SES are more likely to have a birth in cohabitation whereas such differences are not found in less traditional societies. The influence of economic inequality is less clear-cut.

Changes in Patterns of Social Role Combinations at Ages 25-26 among Those Growing Up in England between 1996 and 2015-16: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort and Next Steps Studies

Changes across education, employment, and family life over the past 20 years challenges the capacity of previously established social role combinations to continue representing the experiences of young men and women born since the late 1980s. Latent class analysis was used to derive patterns of role combinations at ages 25–26 in those growing up in England, using data from 3191 men and 3921 women in the 1970 British Cohort Study (1996) and 3426 men and 4281 women in the Next Steps study born in 1989–90 (2015–16). Role combinations in 1996 were well defined by five patterns across genders: educated, work-oriented, traditional family, fragile family, and slow starters. Patterns in 2015–16 diverged across genders (e.g., disappearance of home ownership in the traditional family group among men and higher education as a group identifier among women) and included across genders fewer work-oriented, more slow starters, and a new group of “left behind” who are excluded from work and relationships. Young men and women born around 1990 experienced diverging role combinations characterized by increased delays and inequalities, with fewer being able to attain the milestones traditionally associated with the transition to adulthood by the mid-20s.

Employment's Role in Enabling and Constraining Marriage in the Middle East and North Africa

We investigate the role of employment in enabling and constraining marriage for young men and women in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia. Survival analysis methods for age at marriage are applied to comparable labor market panel surveys from Egypt (2012), Jordan (2010), and Tunisia (2014), which include detailed labor market histories. For men, employment and especially high-quality employment are associated with more rapid transitions to marriage. For women, past-but not contemporaneous-employment statuses are associated with more rapid transitions to marriage. After addressing endogeneity using residual-inclusion methods for the case of public sector employment (a type of high-quality employment), we find that such employment significantly accelerates marriage for men in Egypt and women in Egypt and Tunisia. The potential of high-quality employment to accelerate marriage may make queuing in unemployment while seeking high-quality employment a worthwhile strategy.

'He supported me 100%': Mexican-immigrant fathers, daughters, and adolescent sexual health

Objective: First and second generation Mexican-origin adolescents in the U.S. face social and economic disadvantage and sexual health disparities. Although fathers can support child and adolescent development, the literature has portrayed Mexican-origin immigrant fathers as emotionally distant and sexist. This study aims to treat migration as a social determinant of health to examine father-daughter relationships and adolescent sexual health in Mexican-origin immigrant families.Methods: Integrating qualitative data from life history interviews with 21 Mexican-origin young women in immigrant families with quantitative data on first and second generation Mexican-origin young women in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study describes father-daughter relationships, examines the association between father-daughter relationships and daughters' early sexual initiation, and considers the impact of migration on the father-daughter relationship and sexual health among Mexican-origin young women.Results: Qualitative data identify four types of father-daughter relationships: 'good,' hostile, distant, and conflicted. Supporting the qualitative patterns, quantitative data find that positive or 'good' father-daughter relationship quality is significantly associated with reduced risk of early sexual initiation. Importantly, father-daughter separation across borders and economic inequality facing immigrant families is associated with hostile or distant father-daughter relationship quality and increased risk of early sexual initiation.Conclusions: Reports of good father-daughter relationships are common and may protect against early sexual initiation in Mexican-origin immigrant families. Policies that keep families together and reduce economic inequality among immigrants may also reduce sexual health disparities among immigrant adolescents.

Becoming obese in young adulthood: the role of career-family pathways in the transition to adulthood for men and women

BACKGROUND

During the transition to adulthood many young adults become obese for the first time in their lives, yet relatively little research has examined why people in this life phase become obese. This study examines what career and family life-course pathways during the transition to adulthood are related to developing obesity in young adulthood.

METHODS

We use data from the NLSY97, a U.S. nationally representative panel survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics between 1997 to 2013 (N = 4688), and apply multichannel sequence analysis in order to identify clusters of typical career-family pathways during the transition to adulthood (age 17 to 27), and subsequently investigate whether these pathways are associated with becoming obese at the end of young adulthood (age 28), using logistic regression. We control for obesity at age 17 and family background factors (race, parental education, parental income, and family structure). To take into account the fact that the transition to adulthood has a different meaning for men and for women, we also interact career-family clusters with gender.

RESULTS

For women, pathways characterized by college education, early home leaving, and postponement of family formation decrease the probability of becoming obese. For men, pathways characterized by early marriage increase the probability of becoming obese.

CONCLUSIONS

The results highlight the importance of gender differences in how career and family pathways are related to becoming obese in young adulthood.

Early Marriage, Cohabitation, and Childbearing in West Africa

The prevalence of child marriage in West Africa is one of the highest in the global south. Yet, much of what we know about the harmful effects of early marriage and why it persists comes from research on South Asia. Adopting life course family development perspectives on adolescent sexuality, we examine the linkages between the timing of union formation and childbearing across multiple countries with high rates of child marriage. Using the latest round of data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), we find that by age 18, 28 percent of adolescents in Nigeria, 25 percent in Burkina Faso, and as high as 60 percent in Niger are in a union, whilst 13 percent of Nigerian adolescents, 12 percent in Burkina Faso, and 27 percent in Niger have had a first birth. The results demonstrate that, net of individual characteristics, community variables are strong predictors of union formation and childbearing. Individual characteristics such as women's education, economic status of households, and residing in female-headed households and rural areas are other salient determinants of adolescent family transitions. We discuss the findings in the context of revamping stalled fertility transitions and the post-2015 framework for development in sub-Saharan Africa.

Intergenerational continuity and stability in early family formation

This study examines intergenerational continuity (mean level similarity) and stability (maintenance of rank ordering of individuals) in age and marital status at the time of becoming a young parent using prospective data from 3 generations of 585 families. G2 participants were recruited at the age of 5 years and followed until the age of 28, by which time 227 had become parents themselves. The findings suggest that despite dramatic intergenerational discontinuities with young adults, on average, now being more likely to be unmarried and older at the time of becoming parents than in previous generations, intergenerational stability in age and marital status at the time of becoming a young parent is still substantial. This intergenerational stability was, for the most part, not moderated by demographic, familial, or behavioral factors, suggesting that a developmental, multigenerational perspective is necessary to understand what has previously been considered a largely demographic issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Family, Academic, and Peer Group Predictors of Adolescent Pregnancy Expectations and Young Adult Childbearing

Compared with previous generations, today's young people increasingly delay parenthood. Having children in the late teens and early 20s is thus a rarer experience rooted in and potentially leading to the stratification of American families. Understanding why some adolescents expect to do so can illuminate how stratification unfolds. Informed by theories of the life course, social control, and reasoned action, this study used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (n = 4,556) to explore outcomes and antecedents of adolescent pregnancy expectations with logistic regressions. Results indicated that those expectations-including neither low nor high (i.e., split) expectations-predicted subsequent childbearing. These apparently consequential expectations were, in turn, most closely associated with youth's academics and peer groups. These findings illustrate how different domains can intersect in the early life course to shape future prospects, and they emphasize split pregnancy expectations reported in a nationally representative sample of young women and men.

Pathways of Health and Human Capital from Adolescence into Young Adulthood

Social inequalities in health and human capital are core concerns of sociologists, but little research examines the developmental stage when such inequalities are likely to emerge-the transition to adulthood. With new data and innovative statistical methods we conceptually develop, and empirically operationalize, pathways of physical health and human capital accumulation from adolescence into young adulthood, using an autoregressive cross-lagged structural equation model. Results reveal that pathways of health and human capital accumulate at differential rates across the transition to adulthood; evidence of cross-lagged effects lend support for both social causation and health selection hypotheses. We then apply this model to assess the presence of social inequality in metabolic syndrome-the leading risk factor of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. Findings document social stratification of cardiovascular health that is robust to both observed and unobserved social and health selection mechanisms. We speculate that this social stratification will only increase as this cohort ages.

Identifying diverse life transition patterns from adolescence to young adulthood: The influence of early socioeconomic context

The purposes of the present study are to investigate: (1) the heterogeneity in life transition patterns of youth from adolescence to young adulthood (ages 18-30) involving the timing and sequence of four transition events (college graduation, full-time employment, marriage, and parenthood), (2) the influence of early socioeconomic adversity on life transition patterns from adolescence to young adulthood, and (3) the influence of gender and race/ethnicity on these transition patterns. Using a multivariate discrete-time mixture survival model with a sample of 14,503 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), the study identified four life transition patterns and found that early socioeconomic adversity shapes disrupted life transition patterns from adolescence to young adulthood. Gender and race/ethnicity differences are discussed. These results highlight the need for prevention and intervention programs that selectively target at-risk youth beginning in adolescence and continuing through subsequent transition periods.

The role of residential mobility in reproducing socioeconomic stratification during the transition to adulthood

OBJECTIVE

This study assesses whether frequency of residential mobility plays a role in the reproduction of socioeconomic inequality during the transition to adulthood based on two criteria: (1) selection – is there socioeconomic sorting into residential trajectories? – and (2) lack of moderation – is this sorting irreducible to other life events that prompt moves (e.g., changes in employment status)?

METHODS

I use two and a half years of monthly address data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life data set, a sample of 18- and 19-year-old young women in a Michigan county. As an improvement upon previous measures of residential mobility, I use group-based trajectory analysis to categorize young women into residential trajectory groups. I then conduct a series of nested logistic regressions to predict membership in residential trajectory groups and a decomposition analysis to determine whether rapid movers are exposed to more life events (e.g., entering/exiting employment) or are simply more sensitive to moving in the face of life events compared to gradual movers.

RESULTS

Rapid moving is associated with low socioeconomic status. Rapid movers experience similar family formation, employment, and academic changes as gradual movers but are more likely to move when faced with these life events.

CONCLUSIONS

High residential mobility is a phenomenon among early home-leavers as part of an accelerated and underfunded transition to adulthood rather than a reflection of the upward socioeconomic mobility of college students.

CONTRIBUTION

High residential mobility is not simply a neutral or normative aspect of the transition to adulthood but rather part of the process of reproducing socioeconomic stratification.

Daily Temporal Pathways: A Latent Class Approach to Time Diary Data

Research on daily time and how it is allocated has generally considered the time spent in specific activities. However, social theory suggests that time use is socially patterned whether by social organization, heterogeneity, and/or stratification. Drawing on four broad types of time (contracted, committed, necessary, and free), we use Multinomial Logit Latent Class Analysis to discuss eight daily temporal pathways and associations with individual characteristics. Our analysis highlights the variations and similarities across pathways, the impact of paid work in structuring daily life, the social patterning of sleep and leisure, and socio-demographic profiles of the pathways of working-age Americans.

Low-income Childless Young Adults' Marriage and Fertility Frameworks

We investigate how low-income young adults without children understand marriage and fertility. Data come from the Becoming Partners and Parents Study (N=69) a qualitative study of African-American adults ages 18-22 in a midsize southern city. This is the first study to analyze young, low-income, childless and unmarried Black respondents' frameworks (i.e., internal understandings of the world) of marriage and fertility. In contrast to research conducted on parents, our research on childless adults indicated a narrative in which there were close connections between marriage and fertility and an economic-bar adhered to both marriage and childbearing. Respondents also believed that childbearing was meaningful and provided purpose, but that it was morally questionable if the parent was not financially stable. Our results suggest that prior findings related to meanings of family formation and childbearing for low-income parents may not extend to those without children.

The adolescent family environment and cohabitation across the transition to adulthood

This study draws upon a sample of men and women from Waves I and IV of Add Health to examine the linkages between the adolescent family environment and cohabitation behavior across the transition to adulthood. Using event history modeling the current paper considers the association between a variety of family factors and both the timing of first cohabiting unions and their outcomes (marriage, break up, still cohabiting). This paper also considers whether the impact of predictors for cohabitation timing and outcomes varies depending on the age of individuals. Results indicate that exposure during adolescence to family instability, parental cohabitation, lower parental SES, and low family belonging were associated with an elevated likelihood of entering into cohabiting unions, but primarily during adolescence and early adulthood. Family factors, including family belonging and parental relationship history, were also associated with the outcomes of first cohabitations.

The Influence of Parental Educational Attainment on the Partnership Context at First Birth in 16 Western Societies

In the US, growing up with parents with a low socio-economic status (SES) has been shown to increase the chance of having a birth outside marriage. However, less is known about the influence of parental SES in other Western countries. The current paper examines the association between parental educational attainment with the partnership context at first birth in 16 European and North American countries, by differentiating births within marriage, within cohabitation, or while being single. Moreover, we test whether the association between parental education and partnership context at childbirth changes over cohorts and whether its influence changes when controlling for own educational attainment. Data from the Generations and Gender Programme were used, as well as data from the American National Survey of Family Growth, the Canadian General Social Survey, and the Dutch Survey on Family Formation. The results show that in North American and East European countries, but not in West European countries, lower parental education increases the risk of having a birth within cohabitation. Moreover, in North American countries and half of the West and East European countries, lower parental education increases the risk of having a birth while being single. The association of parental education with the partnership context at birth tends to change furthermore over cohorts, although no clear pattern could be observed between countries. The study suggests that the intergenerational transmission of education is an important mechanism in explaining the influence of parental education, although other mechanisms also appear to be at work.

Adolescents' changing future expectations predict the timing of adult role transitions

Individual differences in the transition to adulthood are well established. This study examines the extent to which heterogeneity in pathways to adulthood that have been observed in the broader U.S. population are mirrored in adolescents’ expectations regarding when they will experience key adult role transitions (e.g., marriage). Patterns of change in adolescents’ expectations and the relations between their expectations and subsequent role transitions are also explored. Data from 626 youth in Grade 11 (M_age = 16), Grade 12, and early adulthood (M_age = 23) are analyzed using mover–stayer latent transition analysis. Results indicate 3 profiles of expected timing, corresponding to youth who anticipate early role entry (i.e., early starters), youth who anticipate earlier entry into employment but no other roles (i.e., employment-focused), and youth who anticipate delays in role transitions favoring increased education (i.e., education-focused). Two thirds of youths changed their expectations from Grade 11 to 12. Grade 11 and 12 profile membership predicted role transitions in early adulthood. These findings highlight the importance of adolescents’ expectations and changes in expectations across time in shaping entry into adulthood.

Parental and adolescent health behaviors and pathways to adulthood

This paper examines associations among parental and adolescent health behaviors and pathways to adulthood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we identify a set of latent classes describing pathways into adulthood and examine health-related predictors of these pathways. The identified pathways are consistent with prior research using other sources of data. Results also show that both adolescent and parental health behaviors differentiate pathways. Parental and adolescent smoking are associated with lowered probability of the higher education pathway and higher likelihood of the work and the work & family pathways (entry into the workforce soon after high school completion). Adolescent drinking is positively associated with the work pathway and the higher education pathway, but decreases the likelihood of the work & family pathway. Neither parental nor adolescent obesity are associated with any of the pathways to adulthood. When combined, parental/adolescent smoking and adolescent drinking are associated with displacement from the basic institutions of school, work, and family.

Marriage Advantages in Perinatal Health: Evidence of Marriage Selection or Marriage Protection?

Marriage is a social tie associated with health advantages for adults and their children, as lower rates of preterm birth and low birth weight are observed among married women. This study tests two competing hypotheses explaining these marriage advantages-marriage protection versus marriage selection-using a sample of recent births to single, cohabiting, and married women from the National Survey of Family Growth, 2006-10. Propensity score matching and fixed effects regression results demonstrate support for marriage selection, as a rich set of early life selection factors account for all of the cohabiting-married disparity and part of the single-married disparity. Subsequent analyses demonstrate prenatal smoking mediates the adjusted single-married disparity in birth weight, lending some support for the marriage protection perspective. Study findings sharpen our understanding of why and how marriage matters for child well-being, and provide insight into preconception and prenatal factors describing intergenerational transmissions of inequality via birth weight.

Subjective adult identity and casual sexual behavior

A majority of Americans have a casual sexual experience before transitioning to adulthood. Little research has yet to examine how identity influences causal sexual behavior. The current study fills this gap in the literature by examining if subjective adult identity predicts casual sexual behavior net of life course transitions in a national sample of Americans. To answer this research question, the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health is utilized. Structural equation modeling results show the older and more adult-like individuals feel the less likely they are to report a recent casual sexual partner. Once life course factors are included in the model, subjective identity is no longer associated with casual sex. Practitioners who work with adult populations need to consider how life course transitions influence casual sexual behavior.

Romantic Relationship Experiences from Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood: The Role of Older Siblings in Mexican-Origin Families

Youth's experiences with romantic relationships during adolescence and young adulthood have far reaching implications for future relationships, health, and well-being; yet, although scholars have examined potential peer and parent influences, we know little about the role of siblings in youth's romantic relationships. Accordingly, this study examined the prospective longitudinal links between Mexican-origin older and younger siblings' romantic relationship experiences and variation by sibling structural and relationship characteristics (i.e., sibling age and gender similarity, younger siblings' modeling) and cultural values (i.e., younger siblings' familism values). Data from 246 Mexican-origin families with older (M = 20.65 years; SD = 1.57; 50 % female) and younger (M = 17.72 years; SD = .57; 51 % female) siblings were used to examine the likelihood of younger siblings' involvement in dating relationships, sexual relations, cohabitation, and engagement/marriage with probit path analyses. Findings revealed older siblings' reports of involvement in a dating relationship, cohabitation, and engagement/marriage predicted younger siblings' relationship experiences over a 2-year period. These links were moderated by sibling age spacing, younger siblings' reports of modeling and familism values. Our findings suggest the significance of social learning dynamics as well as relational and cultural contexts in understanding the links between older and younger siblings' romantic relationship experiences among Mexican-origin youth.

An integrative model of inter- and intragenerational preconception processes influencing birthweight in the United States

Social inequalities in birthweight are an important population health concern as low birthweight is one mechanism through which inequalities are reproduced across generations. Yet, we do not understand what causes these social inequalities. This study draws together theoretic and empiric findings from disparate disciplines--sociology, economics, public health, and behavior genetics--to develop a new integrative intra- and intergenerational model of preconception processes influencing birthweight. This model is empirically tested using structural equation modeling and population-level data containing linked mother-daughter pairs from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and the Children of the NLSY79 (N = 1,580 mother-daughter pairs). Results reveal that birthweight is shaped by preconception factors dating back to women's early life environment as well as conditions dating back three generations, via integrative intra- and intergenerational processes. These processes reveal specific pathways through which social inequality can transmit from mothers to children via birthweight.

Debt, cohabitation, and marriage in young adulthood

Despite growing evidence that debt influences pivotal life events in early and young adulthood, the role of debt in the familial lives of young adults has received relatively little attention. Using data from the NLSY 1997 cohort (N = 6,749) and a discrete-time competing risks hazard model framework, I test whether the transition to first union is influenced by a young adult's credit card and education loan debt above and beyond traditional educational and labor market characteristics. I find that credit card debt is positively associated with cohabitation for men and women, and that women with education loan debt are more likely than women without such debt to delay marriage and transition into cohabitation. Single life may be difficult to afford, but marital life is un-affordable as well. Cohabitation presents an alternative to single life, but not necessarily a marital substitute for these young adults.

Teenage Cohabitation, Marriage, and Childbearing

Cohabitation is an integral part of family research; however, little work examines cohabitation among teenagers or links between cohabitation and teenage childbearing. Drawing on the National Survey of Family Growth (2006-10), we examine family formation activities (i.e., cohabitation, marriage, and childbearing) of 3,945 15-19 year old women from the mid 1990s through 2010. One-third (34%) of teenagers cohabit, marry, or have a child. Teenage cohabitation and marriage are both positively associated with higher odds of having a child. The vast majority of single pregnant teenagers do not form a union before the birth of their child; only 22% cohabit and 5% marry. Yet most single pregnant teenagers eventually cohabit, 59% did so by the child's third birthday and about 9% marry. Cohabitation is an important part of the landscape of the adolescent years, and many teenage mothers described as "single mothers" are actually in cohabiting relationships.

Moving and union formation in the transition to adulthood in the United States

Although previous research has paid attention to profound changes in union formation among young adults, few studies have incorporated moving events in the estimation of union formation. Moreover, less attention has been given to detailed moving experiences in young adults' life course. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examine the relationship between moving and first union formation of young adults in the United States. Moving events are aggregated by distance moved, economic conditions in origin and destination places (i.e. moving within the same county, moving to new counties with better or the same economic conditions, and moving to new counties with worse economic conditions) and the time since a move. Our findings suggest that moving events, regardless of type, are significantly related to first union formation for females while the time since a move is important to union formation of males.

Educational differences in early childbearing: A cross-national comparative study

BACKGROUND

Recent research on fertility in industrialized countries focuses primarily on delayed childbearing, despite the facts that large numbers of women continue to enter parenthood at relatively young ages and that early childbearing has been linked to economic disadvantage.

OBJECTIVE

This cross-national comparative study describes relationships between women's educational attainment and young age at first birth and evaluates the extent to which these differences have changed over time for women born 1955-1981.

METHODS

Defining 'early' childbearing as the age by which 20% of first births have occurred to women in a given birth cohort and country, we describe differences in early childbearing by educational attainment across three cohorts of women in 20 countries.

RESULTS

We find a strong negative educational gradient in early childbearing across all 20 countries and some evidence of an increase in the relative prevalence of early childbearing among the least-educated women. In 10 countries, the relative prevalence of early childbearing among women with low education is significantly higher for one or both of the more recent birth cohorts compared to the earliest cohort. However, many countries show no significant change, and in one country (Poland) there is modest evidence of a decreasing educational gap.

CONCLUSIONS

Evidence that educational differences in early childbearing have grown in some countries is generally consistent with the notion of family bifurcation and 'diverging destinies' by socioeconomic status. However, the pattern is not universal and future work should examine the various factors that shape these patterns, including the role of public policies.

Debt, cohabitation, and marriage in young adulthood

Despite growing evidence that debt influences pivotal life events in early and young adulthood, the role of debt in the familial lives of young adults has received relatively little attention. Using data from the NLSY 1997 cohort (N = 6,749) and a discrete-time competing risks hazard model framework, I test whether the transition to first union is influenced by a young adult's credit card and education loan debt above and beyond traditional educational and labor market characteristics. I find that credit card debt is positively associated with cohabitation for men and women, and that women with education loan debt are more likely than women without such debt to delay marriage and transition into cohabitation. Single life may be difficult to afford, but marital life is un-affordable as well. Cohabitation presents an alternative to single life, but not necessarily a marital substitute for these young adults.

Pathways to adulthood and their precursors and outcomes

Norway has an extensive welfare system which may provide adolescents with many options and high levels of flexibility in terms of pathways to adulthood. This study aimed to describe Norwegian developmental pathways to adulthood, including changes in role statuses (such as living situations, education, work, marriage/cohabitation and parenthood) from 16 to 30 years of age, and their precursors and outcomes. Repeated measures latent class analysis of longitudinal data from 998 Norwegian individuals indicated three main pathways to adulthood among women and men. In both sexes, most individuals undertook a long period of education and postponed family formation. However, some individuals started working early, a group of women established families with partners and children early, and a group of men remained primarily single between 16 and 30 years of age. Furthermore, the results show that pathways to adulthood in Norway are surprisingly similar to pathways in other countries such as the US, UK and Finland. The results indicate that pathways to adulthood are influenced by social reproduction factors in a country with high levels of welfare benefits as well. In addition, the results suggest that pathways involving living with a partner and either higher education or work are associated with high life satisfaction at age 30.

Pathways of children's long-term living arrangements: A latent class analysis

This study employed latent class analysis to create children's family structure trajectories from birth through adolescence using merged mother and child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N=1870). Input variables distinguished between biological fathers and stepfathers as well as mother's marriages and cohabitations. The best-fitting model revealed five latent trajectories of children's long-term family structure: continuously married biological parents (55%), long-term single mothers (18%), married biological parents who divorce (12%), a highly unstable trajectory distinguished by gaining at least one stepfather (11%), and cohabiting biological parents who either marry or break up (4%). Multinomial logistic regression indicated that mother's education, race, teen birth status, and family of origin characteristics were important predictors of the long-term family trajectories in which their children grew up. These findings suggest that latent class analysis is a valuable statistical tool for understanding children's complete family structure experiences.

Family Instability and Pathways to Adulthood in Urban South Africa

Social, political, epidemiological, and economic forces have produced family instability during childhood for many young people transitioning to adulthood in South Africa. This study identifies pathways to adulthood for youth in Cape Town that capture the timing and sequencing of role transitions across the life domains of school, work, and family formation. It then uses these pathways to investigate the relationship between childhood family instability and the way young people's lives unfold during the transition to adulthood. Results indicate that changes in co-residence with parents are associated with following less advantageous pathways into adulthood, independent of particular family structure or orphan status. Overall, the findings suggest that family instability influences not only single transitions for youth, but also combinations of transitions. They also indicate the value of a multi-dimensional conceptualization of the transition to adulthood in empirical work.

Age and the tenses of life satisfaction

OBJECTIVE

People have a special capacity to live simultaneously in both chronological and biographical time. In this article, we examine reports of life satisfaction that span past, present, and future, considering how perceived changes in certain life domains are associated with overall perceived life trajectories.

METHODS

Analyses use men and women from the Midlife Development in the United States survey. We employ gender-stratified fixed effects regression models to examine the net effect of satisfaction with finances, partnerships/marriage, sex, contribution to others, work, health, and relationship with children on trajectories of overall life satisfaction.

RESULTS

Among men, partnership and financial satisfaction had the strongest association with life satisfaction. Women displayed a somewhat broader range of domains related to their trajectories of life satisfaction. Partnership was most important, but their sense of evolving life satisfaction was also tied to their relationship with their children, sexuality, work situation, contribution to others' welfare, and financial situation.

DISCUSSION

We find several notable differences between men and women, but the most telling differences emerge among women themselves across chronological time. For women, partner satisfaction becomes considerably more important across the age groups, whereas sex, contribution to others, and relationships with children all decrease in their importance for overall life satisfaction.

Parametric and nonparametric analysis of life courses: an application to family formation patterns

We discuss a unified approach to the description and explanation of life course patterns represented as sequences of states observed in discrete time. In particular, we study life course data collected as part of the Dutch Fertility and Family Surveys (FFS) to learn about the family formation behavior of 1,897 women born between 1953 and 1962. Retrospective monthly data were available on each 18- to 30-year-old woman living either with or without children as single, married, or cohabiting. We first study via a nonparametric approach which factors explain the pairwise dissimilarities observed between life courses. Permutation distribution inference allows for the study of the statistical significance of the effect of a set of covariates of interest. We then develop a parametric model for the sequence-generating process that can be used to describe state transitions and durations conditional on covariates and conditional on having observed an initial segment of the trajectory. Fitting of the proposed model and the corresponding model selection process are based on the observed data likelihood. We discuss the application of the methods to the FFS.

Young Adults' Fertility Expectations and Events: Associations With College Enrollment and Persistence

The analyses described in this article investigated the association between adolescent fertility expectations and college enrollment (N = 7,838). They also explored the potential impact of fertility expectations and events on college persistence among 4-year (n = 2,605) and 2-year (n = 1,962) college students. The analysis, which used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, showed a significant association between expectations for early parenthood and the likelihood of going to a 4-year college or 2-year college for both men and women. In addition, the authors found that pregnancies were associated with an increased risk of college dropout for women; however, if all of the estimated effect of pregnancies on the risk of dropout were causal, they would still not be a major factor contributing to educational attainment because fertile pregnancies among college women are so rare.