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Assisting Young, Unmarried Mothers to Become Self-Sufficient: The Effects of Different
Types of Early Economic Support
Author(s): Jodi R. Sandfort and Martha S. Hill
Source: Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 58, No. 2, (May, 1996), pp. 311-326
Published by: National Council on Family Relations
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/353498
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JODIR. SANDFORTAND MARTHAS. HILL
University of Michigan
Assisting Young, UnmarriedMothers to Become
Self-Sufficient: The Effects of Different Types
of Early Economic Support
This article examines a sample of young, unmarried mothers from the Panel Study of Income
Dynamics (PSID) and considers how different
types of economic support received soon after
their first child is born contributes to the later
self-sufficiency of young, unmarried mothers. It
expands conventional categories of income support-AFDC, food stamps, child support-to include shared housing and relatives' assistance.
The model also contains various behaviors of
young mothers after the birth of their first child.
The findings suggest that certain economic supports assist these mothers and that life choices
they make after their child's birth are important
to self-sufficiency.
Recent Congressional proposals to reform the
welfare system have focused attentionon strategies for discouragingout-of-wedlockbirths,particularlyamong young parents.This attentionis
fueled by the belief that pregnancy outside of
Institutefor Social Research,University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, MI 48106-1248 [email protected] hillm@isr.
umich.edu).
Key Words: income support, self-sufficiency, teenage mothers,
welfare.
marriageis the cause of manyothersocial ills. As
Charles Murray(1993), a neo-conservativeresearcherwrites: "Illegitimacyis the single most
importantsocial problemof our time-more importantthancrime,drugs,poverty,illiteracy,welfare,or homelessnessbecauseit driveseverything
else." Some policymakersseem to have adopted
this view, positingthatif they reformthe welfare
system there will be fewer unmarriedwomen
having children,which, in turn, will reduce the
othersocial ills.
Yet social science evidence contradictsthese
beliefs. Researchdocumentsthat income support
from welfare programssuch as Aid to Families
with DependentChildren(AFDC) is not a cause
of women bearing children outside of marriage
(Duncan & Hoffman, 1988; Ellwood & Bane,
1985; Moffit, 1992). Instead, a host of demographic and social trends are producing lower
rates of marriage,higher ages at first marriage,
and greaterincidence of divorce and separation.
Marriedwomen of all races and classes are having fewer childrenat the same time that unmarried women are having more (Ellwood & Crane,
1990; Furstenberg& Brooks-Gunn,1986; Mare
& Winship, 1991; Wojtkiewicz,McLanahan,&
Garfinkel,1990).
While reformingthe welfare system is likely
to do little to changethese complexdemographic
Journalof Marriageandthe Family58 (May 1996):311-326
311
Journal of Marriage and the Family
312
trends, policymakers have seized on reform as a
panacea and are paying scant attention to ways
that reform could address other desirable goals,
such as assisting low-income families become
self-sufficient. Although policymakers rhetorically have expressed their concern for increasing
self-sufficiency among the poor, little attention
has been given to defining self-sufficiency or
considering how it is best achieved. This research
seeks to address both public concern about outof-wedlock childbearing and the desire to increase the self-sufficiency of young mothers.
Using a nationally representative sample of young
women who were unmarried when they gave
birth to their first child, we examine how economic assistance helps women in this vulnerable
position achieve economic self-sufficiency later
in life. We examine existing types of economic
support-both public and private-and predict
how these sources of support affect young, unmarried mothers' chances of becoming economically self-sufficient by the time their first child
enters school. We also seek to understandthe process of achieving self-sufficiency by examining a
number of factors that could mediate the effect of
assistance on later self-sufficiency.
PRIORRESEARCH
Consequences of Adolescent Childbearing
Much research has been done in the last 20 years
on the consequences of adolescent sexual behavior, pregnancy, and parenting. (See Hayes, 1987;
Miller & Moore, 1990; and U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, 1995, for reviews.)
Although adolescent childbearing was at its peak
during the baby boom, most young mothers at
that time were married. Public attention to adolescent pregnancy grew, however, when the proportion of births to unmarried young women grew.
By 1993, 72% of the births to teenagers were to
unmarried women (U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, 1995).
Public concern about early parenting is understandable because there are a number of negative
consequences for the young mothers and their
children. Teenage women who have children are
less likely to graduate from high school or get a
high school equivalency degree than women who
delay childbearing until their 20s (Geronimus &
Korenman, 1992; Hoffman, Foster, & Furstenberg, 1993; Mott & Marsiglio, 1985; Upchurch &
McCarthy, 1989). Teenage mothers are more like-
ly to be poor, to have low occupational status, and
to be dependent on public assistance. In addition,
they are less likely than other adolescents to
marry later in life and, if they do marry, to have
stable marriages (Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn, &
Morgan, 1987; Geronimus & Korenman, 1992;
Hoffman et al., 1993; Kellam, Adams, Brown, &
Ensminger, 1982; Maynard, 1995; Teti & Lamb,
1989; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1995). Although the size of these effects in
conventional estimation approaches may be upwardly biased, even recent research using fixed
effects models of sister pairs to more fully control
for family background finds statistically significant effects of teen birth (Geronimus & Korenman, 1992, 1993; Hoffman et al., 1993).
The Concept of Self-Sufficiency
Because young, unmarriedmothers are at risk for a
host of negative life events, they can use assistance. A desirable goal is to provide that assistance
in a way that fosters, rather than discourages, selfsufficiency in the long run. Although formal
education was thought to be the path to increasing
self-sufficiency, recent evaluations of welfare-towork programs suggest a more complex and variable process, with work experience playing an
important role in developing the skills needed to
leave welfare (Martinson, 1995).
Although self-sufficiency is frequently heralded as the goal of public assistance programs, there
seems to be no research that systematically
explores its definition or the process of its attainment. This ambiguity in defining the goal
prevents us from achieving it. For help in understanding the concept of self-sufficiency, we turn
to sociological and economic literature that examines intergenerational transmission. This literature
considers how parents' characteristics influence
the achievements of their children in adulthood,
including educational attainment, occupation, and
income (Corcoran, Gordon, Laren, & Solon,
1992; Haveman, Wolfe, & Spaulding, 1991; Hill
& Duncan, 1987; Sewell, Hauser, & Wolf, 1980;
Solon, 1992). This literature helps inform the
models used in this research by identifying how
characteristics of family background directly and
indirectly influence these outcomes, by pointing
to factors that mediate this effect, and by suggesting that the predictors of self-sufficiency are dynamic and can be found throughout the life
course. The intergenerational transmission literature, however, does not consider self-sufficiency
Self-Sufficiencyfor Young Mothers
as an outcome and focuses mostly on male samples. This article is a step toward better understanding the process of how young, unmarried
mothers achieve self-sufficiency.
Sources of Economic Support
We are concerned with understanding how the
sources of economic support received earlier in
life help predict self-sufficient income later in life.
As such, this project grows out of a traditionof social science research concerned with how the
source of income influences its effect. The clearest
example of this in the literature is the distinction
between parental welfare income and parents'
earned income in empirical models of young
adults' attainments (Corcoran et al., 1992; Corcoran & Adams, 1993; Duncan & Yeung, 1995; Ellwood & Bane, 1985; McLanahan, 1985). Scholars
make this distinction between these two types of
income to test the hypothesis that income from
welfare influences the achievements of children
differently than income earned in the labor market. Although the results of these studies are
somewhat mixed, they suggest that welfare income exerts different effects than earned income
on at least some groups of children.
Research on the association between childsupport payments and children's educational
achievement (Knox & Bane, 1992) also backs up
the hypothesis that the source of income is important. This research shows that larger amounts of
supportpaid by a noncustodial parent are associated with children completing more years of schooling and with both a higher likelihood of graduating from high school and a higher likelihood of
entering college. Other research (Hill & Duncan,
1987) shows that an assortment of types of family
income-father's earnings, mother's earnings, assets, and welfare programs-serves differentially
as predictors of children's completed education
and later wage rates. This leads us to hypothesize
that different types of income support have different influences on the later self-sufficiency of
young mothers.
Because our proposed study deals specifically
with young, unmarried women, we broaden our
concepts of economic support from the more
commonly used welfare income and child support
to include financial assistance from relatives and
shared housing support. Past research on young,
single mothers indicates that families help to
cushion the effects of early parenting in many
ways (Caldwell, Antonucci, Jackson, Osofsky, &
313
Wolford, 1995; Furstenberg & Crawford, 1978;
Hogan, Hao, & Parish, 1990; Presser, 1980). Direct financial support from family members is one
way of assisting young mothers. A nationally representative study found that 25% of African
American single mothers and 38% of White single mothers received at least half of their income
from other family members (Hogan et al., 1990).
The importance of families in boosting the income of young mothers is reinforced by additional studies as well (Caldwell et al., 1995; Furstenberg & Crawford, 1978; Presser 1980).
The creation and maintenance of intergenerational households is another important way that
parents help support their young, pregnant daughters (Furstenberg et al.,1987; Goldscheider & DaVanzo, 1985; Hill, 1990; Scheirer, 1983; Trent &
Harlan, 1990, 1994). Sharing housing with family
reduces the living expenses of young mothers and
may allow them to work outside the home or continue their formal education. It also may decrease
the likelihood that young mothers will quickly
have additional children (Presser, 1980). As we
will see, altering these types of behaviors may directly increase their long-term self-sufficiency.
There are other types of support young mothers can receive that may affect their later ability
to become self-sufficient. Chief among these are
no-cost child care, provided either by grandparents or friends (Hogan et al., 1990; Presser, 1980)
and social and emotional support that can influence motivation and depression (Caldwell et al.,
1995; Presser, 1980). These factors, however,
cannot be included in this project because the data
set used in this analysis, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, does not contain such measures.
Factors Influencing How Economic Support
Affects Self-Sufficiency
There are clearly ways that women can react to
these various types of economic support that will
improve their later self-sufficiency. The support
may facilitate participation in the labor market or
continued education, both of which enhance wage
rates. The support also may influence chances of
meeting a potential spouse with a high wage
level, as well as chances of giving birth to additional children.
Work experience can help young women build
the qualifications they need to secure better paying
jobs in the future if they are able to make strong
labor market commitments. Previous research
shows that it is difficult for young mothers to get
314
work experiencein the first years following the
birth of a child. In a national study of young
mothers,both marriedand unmarried,Ortiz and
Fennelly (1988) found that 2 years after giving
birth,only 40%of Whitewomen,30%of African
Americanwomen, and between20% and 40% of
Hispanic women were working outside their
homes.No grouphadreturnedto its pre-pregnancy
level of participationin the labor force. These
percentagesare probablyeven lower among unmarriedmothers.Evenif they areableto get work
experience during the first years after a child's
birth, young mothersoften find that their childcare responsibilitiesrestricttheirabilityto obtain
the typesof jobs thatwouldinvolvethe trainingor
experiencethatwould subsequentlylead to higher
wages.The GeneralAccountingOffice (1991) has
foundthateven whenyoung,single motherswork
full-time,most remainnearor below the poverty
level. The GAO concluded,"If mother-onlyfamilies are to escape from poverty, the majorityof
poor, single motherswill need eithersupplementaryincomesourcesorjob trainingthatraisestheir
earningssubstantially"
(p. 8).
Considerableresearchhas documentedthe importanceof educationto latereconomic viability
(Ashenfelter& Krueger,1992; Danziger, 1991;
Corcoranet al., 1992). This suggeststhatsupport
that enables continuededucationwill contribute
to the laterself-sufficiencyof unmarriedmothers.
The income that young mothers receive from
AFDC and the supportthatthey get from sharing
housingwith theirparentsmay help them stay in
or returnto school. This, in turn, may enhance
wages and thus allow them to earn higher selfsufficientincome by the time theirfirst child entersschool.
Earlyeconomic supportmay also help young
mothersbuild connectionswith potentiallyeligible marriagepartners,and marriage,in turn,provides access to an importantincome source-a
husband'sincome.Marriagemay be only a shortterm solution to women's poverty, however,
because very real possibilities of separationor
divorcemake even marriedwomen vulnerableto
economic hardship.Existing research has produced mixed results regardingthe influence of
marriageon eventual self-sufficiency of young
mothers.Workby Teti andLamb(1989) suggests
thatmarriagemay not be a viablepathwayto selfsufficiencyfor young mothers.Yet Brooks-Gunn
and Furstenberg(1987) arguethat a stable marriageis criticalto long-termeconomicviability.
Journal of Marriage and the Family
A final factorthatcould influencethe relationship between economic support and selfsufficiencyis whetheror not a young womanhas
additionalchildrensoon afterthe birthof her first
child (Furstenberg et al., 1987). Research by
Presser (1980) suggests that women who share
housingwith their parentsare more likely to use
birth control and to terminatetheir pregnancies
becausethey don't wantto jeopardizethe support
they receive.Parentsmay be less likely to continue sharing their homes if unmarrieddaughters
continueto have morechildren.In addition,there
areclearlyeconomiccosts associatedwith raising
more children,particularlyif the motheris doing
it alone.
RESEARCHPROCEDURES
Data and Sample
The data for this analysis come from the Panel
Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), a nationally
representative,longitudinaldata set that has followed individualsand families since 1968 (Hill,
1992). The PSID initiallyoversampledpoorfamilies, but constructed probability of selection
weights that adjustfor the oversampling,as well
as for nonresponse.We have drawnour sample
from the full PSID sample and then used these
weights in both our univariateand multivariate
OLS regression estimates to allow inference to
the U.S. population.Any missing values in this
dataset were assignedthe meanvalue of the variable or a value appropriate
to the population.
Oursampleconsistsof 302 youngwomenwho
had theirfirst child when they were betweenthe
ages of 16 and22, andwho were unmarriedat the
time of the birth. In order to have measuresof
their backgroundcharacteristics,membersof the
samplewere observedin the PSID duringadolescence between the ages of 12 and 14. They also
were observedwhen theirfirst child was between
the ages of 5 and 7-the time of observationfor
this analysis. Altogether, each member of the
samplehas between11 and 19 yearsof datain the
PSID drawnfromthe 1968-1990 interviewyears.
Each had her first child sometimebetween 1972
and 1983.
Measures and Model
In this analysis,we are examiningthe amountof
self-sufficientincomethe youngmotherhas when
her first child is enteringschool. Becauseof limi-
Self-Sufficiencyfor YoungMothers
tationsin the availabilityof data,we arerestricted
to examiningthis outcomeno laterthanwhen the
firstchild is age 7. As time passes,moredatawill
become availablein the PSID, and this outcome
thencan be assessedwhenthe childrenareolder.
For the purposeof this analysis,we have operationalized self-sufficient income in two ways.
First, we examine how our model predicts
women's self-sufficient income, defined as the
young mother's average annual income from
labor,child support,andassistancefromrelatives.
This measure is a strict representationof these
women's self-sufficient income because it excludes income from AFDC, food stamps, and
fromanymenthey subsequentlymarried.The outcome measuredoes, however,include assistance
from otherrelativesbecause this type of income
transferis connectedto the woman,herself,andis
notdirectlydependenton hermaritalstatus.
Secondly,we examinehow ourmodelpredicts
anotherindicatorof self-sufficientincome-what
we call marriage-oriented
self-sufficientincome.
This outcomeis adjustedto reflect the changing
economic conditionsof women who marryafter
the birthof theirfirst child. It is definedas average annualincome in the woman's family from
her labor,her husband'slabor,child support,and
assistancefrom relatives.While this measureaccounts for all privateresources available in the
of
family, it may be a less reliablerepresentation
these mothers'economicprospectsbecauseof the
high prevalenceof unstablemarriagesamongthis
population.For both outcomes,self-sufficientincome was averaged over 3 years when the
woman's first child was aged 5-7 because such
measuresaremorestablethansingle-yearestimations of income.
In this analysis, we are principallyinterested
in how the differenttypes of economicsupportreceived by young motherswhen their first child
was betweenages 1 and 4 influencetheir subsequent self-sufficiency. The sources of the economic supportare both public sources (AFDC
and food stamps)and privatesources(child support, sharedhousing, and financialsupportfrom
relatives). In our analysis, these and all other
measuresof income are expressed in 1990 dollars.
In additionto these predictors,the model includes a numberof controlvariables.First,there
are two variables-county unemploymentrate
andcountyunskilledwage rate-that measureenvironmentalconditionsat the time of the outcome
that could influenceeconomic well-being.Then,
315
there are a numberof measuresof the mother's
family background,all observedduringa 3-year
period when she was between 12 and 14 years
old: herrace,whethershe lived in a ruralarea,the
number of years she was poor, the average
amountof AFDC income her parentalfamily received, the number of other children in her
parentalhousehold,the numberof yearsshe lived
with one parent,her mother'slevel of education,
and a measureof her expectededucationalattainment.The variablerepresentingherexpectededucationalattainmentcomes from data collected in
the early years of the PSID when parentswere
asked whetheror not their childrenwould complete high school. All of these characteristicsof
parentalfamily backgroundare included in our
model because previousresearchshows they directly or indirectlyinfluenceeconomic outcomes
(Bumpass & McLanahan,1989; Furstenberget
al., 1987; Geronimus& Korenman,1992; Hogan,
1986).
Our third set of predictorsmeasurescircumstances that existed just before the birth of the
child. These variablesare includedas controlsfor
differencesamongthe young motherswhen they
became pregnant.Measures of her parents' income-to-needs ratio (e.g., their poverty status),
her age at time of birth, and the state's AFDC
guaranteeduringthe year before her first child
was born were included. Women not living in
theirparents'homes had missing data on the income-to-needsvariable.A dummyvariablewas
createdandincludedin all regressionequationsto
control for this. The state AFDC guaranteewas
includedto explorewhetheror not the level of the
state's AFDC grantinfluencedthe mother'sselfsufficiency. We also included a measurein the
tables called "statesharepenalty"that represents
whetheror not the statehad a policy thatreduced
the level of AFDC benefits for families who
sharedhousing.This penaltycouldhave servedas
a disincentive to accepting housing assistance
from relatives and, hence, may have influenced
the receiptof this formof support.
Taken together,the outcome variables,focal
predictors,environmentalconditions,background
of the mother,andinitialconditions
characteristics
just priorto the birthof the firstchildcomposethe
base model of this analysis.To this base model,
we add variables representingeducation, work,
and family behaviorsthat the young women engaged in after the birth of their first child. The
amountof workexperience,education,the length
of a subsequentmarriage,or the numberof addi-
316
Journal of Marriage and the Family
tional children may influence the amount of the
self-sufficient income of these young women
when their children are older. These variables are
measured while the first child is between the ages
of 1 and 4. We hypothesize that these variables
represent various pathways through which economic support influences later self-sufficiency.
For a detailed description of these variables see
the Appendix.
RESULTS
Descriptive Analysis
The weighted means of all variables included in
this analysis are presented in Table 1. In this table
(as is true throughout this analysis) all income
variables, including those treated as outcomes, are
measured in hundreds of dollars ($100s). For
example, although the mean of women's selfsufficient income reads 63.44, the value actually
is $6,344 annually. Likewise, the average value of
income is
marriage-oriented self-sufficient
$16,191.
As Table 1 reveals, the average annual amount
of AFDC received after the birth of the women's
first child was $1,871. The mothers annually received an average of $703 in food stamps, $293
in child support, and $131 in assistance from relatives. The mothers averaged 1.6 years out of 4 in
which they shared housing with family members.
Forty-one percent of this sample was Black,
and 22% lived in rural areas while they were adolescents. The mean age at which the women gave
birth to their first child was 18.5 years. In general,
this sample of young, unmarried mothers came
from disadvantaged backgrounds. Ninety-three
percent of them lived in poverty for at least 1 year
during their early adolescence (ages 12-14).
Eighteen percent grew up in families in which
their parents did not expect them or their siblings
to finish high school.
Although means provide a useful descriptive
representation for some variables, a number of
variables are more clearly illustrated by examining other aspects of their distributions. Additional
descriptive statistics also serve to emphasize that
counting or not counting husband's income as a
part of self-sufficient income makes a vast difference. The distribution of the primary outcomewomen's self-sufficient income-reveals
that
46% of the sample had less than $2,400 annually
in self-sufficient income. Thirty-two percent had
TABLE 1. WEIGHTED MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS
OF MODEL VARIABLES
Variables
Outcomevariables
Women's self-sufficient income
Marriage-orientedself-sufficient
income
Early economic supports
Aid to Families with Dependent
Children
Food stamps
Child support
Sharedhousing
Financialsupportfrom relatives
Environmentalcontrols
County unemploymentrate
Countyunskilled wage rate
Conditionsin early adolescence
WhetherBlack
Always rural
Years poor
AFDC income
Numberof siblings
Years with single parent
Mother's education
Low educationalexpectations
Conditionsjust priorto first birth
Individual'sparentalincome-toneeds ratio
State AFDC guarantee
State sharepenalty
Age at birth
Year child born
Education,work, and family behaviors
Labormarketexperience
Education
Years married
Additionalchildren
Mean
SD
63.44
73.13
161.91
144.09
18.71
7.03
2.93
1.64
1.31
24.31
9.74
13.78
1.47
4.03
7.37
5.61
2.90
1.04
.41
.22
21.97
4.10
.94
10.42
.18
.49
.42
.96
46.82
2.07
1.31
2.50
.38
.92
6.49
.34
18.47
78.40
1.15
2.72
.47
1.59
2.65
1.14
11.27
1.47
.62
1.19
1.55
1.69
.68
2.53
Note: All income variables are measured in hundreds
of dollars ($100s). See Appendix for definitions of variables.
self-sufficient incomes above the poverty line. In
contrast, when we look at the second outcomemarriage-oriented, self-sufficient income-we see
that only 24% of the sample had less than $2,400
annually. Sixty-one percent had self-sufficient
incomes above the poverty line when their
husband's labor income was included as selfsufficient income.
Together with the results in Table 1, additional
descriptive statistics show that this sample of
young mothers exhibited diverse behaviors during
the years when their first child was aged 1-4. Although we are unable to gauge the additional education received during that particular period, we
find variation in the level of completed education,
with a mean of 11.3 years but a modal value of 12
Self-Sufficiencyfor Young Mothers
years (a high school degree). The data allow a
clearer view of the women's labor market, marriage, and fertility behaviors during the 4-year interval following the birth of the first child. During
that time, the young women gained an average of
1.14 years of full-time equivalent work experience. However, only 29% of them gained exactly
1 full-time equivalent year of experience, whereas
39% did not participate in the labor market at all,
and 4% worked full-time throughout the 4-year
period. The sample was strongly divided with regard to marriage and fertility behaviors. Fortynine percent married, 51% did not, and 50% had
an additional child during that time, whereas 50%
did not.
Predictive Analysis-Women's
Self-Sufficient Income
In our analysis of factors predicting selfsufficiency, we first examine how, in multivariate
contexts, early economic supports predict
women's self-sufficient income. We then add education, work, and family behaviors to this base
model to test the hypothesis that they act as potential pathways for how economic support influences later self-sufficiency. We consider how this
same model predicts a marriage-oriented definition of self-sufficiency.
Table 2 documents the construction of the
multivariate model to assess the association between forms of economic support and later selfsufficiency. For column 1, self-sufficient income
was regressed on the different types of economic
support. In this preliminary model, child support
and shared housing are both statistically significant with sizable positive coefficients. For column 2, we reran the equation, this time adding
controls for environmental conditions at the time
the outcome was measured and for women's family conditions during adolescence. Again, child
support and shared housing remain statistically
significant with sizable positive coefficients. For
column 3, the estimation equation was further expanded by additional controls for conditions just
prior to the birth of the child. Child support and
shared housing again are statistically significant
predictors with sizable positive coefficients. The
adjusted R2 shows that this final model accounts
for 26% of the variance in the outcome, a sizable
proportion for microlevel analysis. Assuming this
model is correctly specified, the results suggest
that for every year a young mother shares housing
with another family when her child is young, her
317
later self-sufficient income will increase by
$1,000. For every $100 in child support she receives before her child is 5, her later selfsufficient income will increase by $168.
The construction of this model also reveals
that AFDC, food stamps, and financial support received from relatives are not statistically significant predictors of women's later self-sufficient income. Thus, while these sources of support do not
bolster later self-sufficiency, neither do they
hinder it.
Adding the control variables does not appreciably alter the relationship between our focal predictors-the early economic supports-and later selfsufficiency. There are, however, direct relationships between some of the control variables and
women's later self-sufficiency. First, the county
unemployment rate has a statistically significant
coefficient that is sizable and negative. This shows
that women's self-sufficient income is inversely
associated with the unemployment rate, lending
support to Wilson's (1987) hypothesis that structural factors play importantroles in understanding
why some people cannot find stable employment.
The number of years the woman was poor in early
adolescence also is negatively related to her later
self-sufficiency, as is her parent's income-toneeds ratio just before her child's birth. Interestingly, the number of siblings and parental AFDC
income in early adolescence seem to have a positive, rather than a negative, association with a
woman's later self-sufficient income, although the
coefficient is quite small. It also is important to
note that neither race nor the age at which she
gave birth are important predictors of a woman's
self-sufficient income. While these factors are not
central to our analysis, the results point to important family background characteristics that influence young women's abilities to be self-sufficient.
These factors merit furtherexploration.
To better understand how early economic supports boost later self-sufficiency, we add to the
final model of Table 2 (the base model) variables
measuring work, education, and family behaviors
during the time the economic supports were received. We make these additions one at a time
and then collectively. This allows us to first pinpoint which behaviors are the more important
pathways through which economic supports are
operating and then to assess the extent that these
behaviors as a group represent all possible pathways. First, we add work experience to the original model. As Table 3 reveals, the number of
years a woman works after the birth of her first
318
Journal of Marriage and the Family
TABLE2. THEEFFECTOFEARLYECONOMIC
SUPPORTS
ONWOMEN'SLATERSELF-SUFFICIENT
INCOME
Predictors
Earlyeconomic supports
Aid to Families with DependentChildren
Food stamps
Child support
Sharedhousing
Financialsupportfrom
relatives
1
-.228
(.178)
-.413
(.453)
1.858***
(.283)
9.438***
(2.717)
1.144
(.970)
Environmentalcontrols
County unemploymentrate
Countyunskilled wage rate
Conditionsin early adolescence
WhetherBlack
Always rural
Years poor
AFDC income
Numberof siblings
Years with single parent
Mother'seducation
Low educationalexpectations
2
-.325
(.185)
-.539
(.477)
1.700***
(.283)
9.245***
(2.746)
.399
(.979)
.524
(.992)
-3.432*
(1.398)
-2.946
(4.029)
15.776
(9.312)
-9.597
(9.808)
-12.779**
(4.835)
.312**
(.096)
3.905
(2.037)
-6.533
(3.351)
-1.085
(1.623)
-17.932
(10.542)
13.525
(9.709)
-6.931
(10.010)
-19.249***
(5.594)
.252*
(.100)
4.429*
(2.139)
-6.343
(3.405)
-.696
(1.619)
-15.648
(10.717)
State AFDC guarantee
State sharepenalty
Age at birth
Year child was born
302
.1638
-.368
(.201)
-.445
(.500)
1.680***
(.296)
10.054***
(2.797)
-4.191**
(1.298)
-2.196
(3.789)
Conditionsjust priorto first birth
Individual'sparentalincome-to-needsratio
Sample size (n)
AdjustedR2
3
302
.2511
-9.366*
(4.400)
1.888
(2.17)
-2.021
(10.410)
.857
(2.726)
1.253
(1.812)
302
.2634
Note: All income variables, including outcome, are measuredin hundredsof dollars ($100s). See Appendix for definitions of variables.
*p < .05. **p <.01. ***p <.001.
child is a large and highly significant predictor of
her later self-sufficient income. Assuming the
model is correctly specified, for every full-time
equivalent year of work the young woman gets
when her child is between ages 1 and 4, her selfsufficient income when this child is between ages
5 and 7 will increase annually by $2,500.
Another factor that could influence a woman's
later self-sufficiency is the amount of education
she receives. To test how this behavior affects the
relationship between economic support received
and self-sufficiency, we add to the base model a
variable representing years of education (see
Table 3). Like work experience, education is a
319
Self-Sufficiencyfor YoungMothers
TABLE3. THE EFFECTOFEARLYECONOMIC
SUPPORTONWOMEN'SLATERSELF-SUFFICIENT
INCOME,
FORVARIOUSBEHAVIORS
CONTROLLING
Predictors
Earlyeconomic support
Aid to Families with Dependent
Children(AFDC)
Food stamps
Child support
Sharedhousing
Financialsupportfrom relatives
Base Model
With Work
With
Education
-.368
(.201)
-.445
(.500)
1.680***
(.296)
10.054***
(2.797)
.524
(.992)
-.118
(.188)
-.140
(.461)
1.809***
(.272)
10.189***
(2.568)
1.047
(.914)
-.296
(.199)
-.265
(.495)
1.583***
(.292)
9.092**
(2.766)
-.226
(1.002)
Education,work, and family
behaviors
Workexperience
25.287***
(3.466)
Education
9.173**
(2.799)
With
With Additional With All
Children
Behaviors
Marriage
-.530*
(.210)
-.664
(.507)
1.643***
(.294)
7.940**
(2.948)
.465
(.986)
-
Additionalchildren
Sample size (n)
AdjustedR2
302
.2634
302
.3792
302
.2881
-
-6.366*
(2.956)
Marriage
-.261
(.188)
-.285
(.465)
1.577***
(.275)
5.341*
(2.690)
-.098
(.926)
302
.2728
-
-36.804***
(5.446)
302
.3647
-.105
(.185)
-.059
(.441)
1.604***
(.256)
4.532
(2.619)
-.188
(.878)
21.318***
(3.313)
8.156**
(2.505)
-4.220
(2.617)
-26.398***
(5.234)
302
.4618
Note: Other control variables included in these models are county unemployment rate, county unskilled wage rate,
whether Black, always rural,years poor, AFDC income, numberof siblings, years with single parent,mother's education,
low educationalexpectations,individual's parentalincome-to-needsratio, state AFDC guarantee,state share penalty, age at
birth,and year child was born. All income variables,including outcome, are measuredin hundredsof dollars ($100s).
*p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001.
statistically significant predictor of the woman's
later self-sufficient income. Assuming the model
is correctly specified, every year of education a
woman receives increases her self-sufficient income by $917 annually.
Another potential pathway through which economic support may influence women's selfsufficient income is marriage. To test this hypothesis, we introduce to the base model a variable
representing the number of years a young mother
is married in the 4 years following the birth of her
first child. The results of this regression reveal a
statistically significant, negative association between marriage and women's self-sufficient income. This relationship may exist because having
a husband early on deters a woman's human capital development and weakens her attachment to
the labor market. If her husband is able to earn
substantial wages to support the family, she will
have little incentive to make sure she is able to do
the same. As we will see, marriage has quite a
different relationship to marriage-oriented, selfsufficient income.
A final behavior that might account for the influence of early economic supports is having additional children after the first is born. In Table 3,
column 5, we introduce into the base model the
number of additional children the woman had
before her first child was 5 years old. Again, this
behavior was significantly related to later selfsufficiency. For each additional child a woman
had before her first child was 5, her annual selfsufficient income was reduced by $3,600.
Some, but not all, of these four variableswork, education, marriage, and additional children-actually do account for part of the relationship between economic support and women's
later self-sufficiency. When work experience is
added to the base model, we see that the coefficients on shared housing and child support remain
essentially unchanged, indicating that work is not
a pathway through which these forms of early
320
economic support exert their influence on later
self-sufficiency. The effect of both child support
and shared housing on the outcome appears to be
independent of the women's work experience
during the observed time.
Unlike work experience, though, education
does play a role in converting one form of early
economic support-shared housing-to later selfsufficiency. The coefficient on shared housing becomes slightly smaller when education is added
to the base model. This suggests that some of the
effect of shared housing operates through a
woman's education level. A young woman who
shares housing with her relatives is likely to be in
a better position to pursue education after she has
a child. This may be why education accounts for
some of the effect observed in the base model between shared housing and the outcome.
Like work experience and education, marriage
has little influence on the relationship between
child support and women's subsequent self-sufficient income. Marriage does, however, reduce the
size of the coefficient on shared housing by 20%
when compared with the base model. Apparently
shared housing tends to postpone marriage, with
that postponement enhancing a young mother's
own economic self-sufficiency. When the number
of additional children is added to the base model,
the coefficient on shared housing again is reduced, this time by almost 50%. Thus, the positive effect of shared housing on self-sufficient income also is reduced if the young woman decides
to have additional children. Child support, however, remains a significant predictor, with the size
of the coefficient nearly what it was in the base
model.
Finally, to see the overall effect that these behaviors in the realms of education, work, and
family have on the relationship between economic support and self-sufficiency, we add the four
behaviors simultaneously to the base model.
Child support remains the only statistically significant, early economic support after we control for
these pathways. This finding reveals that the positive association between child support and later
self-sufficiency does not depend on any of these
behaviors. It is an independent effect. This finding is particularly striking because child support
is not a very common type of economic support
for this population due to their unmarriedstatus at
the time their child was born. In contrast, the
association between shared housing and later selfsufficiency is completely explained by these behaviors. Shared housing is apparently associated
Journal of Marriage and the Family
with higher educational attainment, fewer years
of marriage, and fewer additional births for this
population of young mothers. Collectively, these
factors account for a substantial share of the association between shared housing and economic
self-sufficiency.
The models in Table 3 are highly predictive of
women's self-sufficient income in this sample of
young mothers. The adjusted R2 for each model
indicates that a considerable amount of the variance in this outcome is explained by the variables
included here. In fact, the final model that includes all four behaviors accounts for 46% of the
variance in the outcome.
Predictive Analysis-Marriage-Oriented
Self-Sufficient Income
To examine comparable relationships for a marriage-oriented definition of self-sufficiency, we
repeat the same step-by-step process using as the
dependent variable our second measure of selfsufficiency, which adds income from the husband's labor as a component of self-sufficient
income (see the Appendix for a definition of this
outcome). In the initial model containing only the
early economic supports as predictors (not
presented here), AFDC, food stamps, child support, and shared housing all are significantly
related to this marriage-orienteddefinition of selfsufficiency. AFDC, food stamps, and shared housing are negatively related, while child support is
positively related. As the control variables for
environmental conditions, early adolescent family
conditions, and circumstances before the birth are
added, only AFDC and child support remain significant predictors, as shown in Table 4, column 1.
The results in this analysis are different from
those found in Table 3. This was expected, given
the different nature of a marriage-oriented definition of self-sufficient income. As noted earlier,
the mean of this marriage-oriented measure of
is considerably higher than
self-sufficiency
women's self-sufficient
income. Thus, the
amount of income from the husband's labor is
largely driving the results of these models for
women who marry after the birth of their first
child.
As the regressions in Table 4 reveal, child support remains a statistically significant predictor
with this definition of self-sufficiency. Shared
housing, on the other hand, shows no statistically
significant relationship to this marriage-oriented
definition. Instead, another form of economic
321
Self-Sufficiencyfor YoungMothers
TABLE
SUPPORT
ONLATER
MARRIAGE-ORIENTED
4. THEEFFECT
OFEARLY
ECONOMIC
BEHAVIORS
SELF-SUFFICIENT
FORVARIOUS
CONTROLLING
INCOME,
Predictors
Focal predictors
Aid to Families with Dependent
Children(AFDC)
Food stamps
Child support
Sharedhousing
Financialsupportfrom relatives
Base Model
With Work
With
Education
With Additional With All
With
Behaviors
Children
Marriage
-1.947***
(.393)
-1.599
(.977)
2.297***
(.578)
-7.641
(5.466)
-1.846
(1.939)
-1.744***
(.395)
-1.353
(.969)
2.401***
(.572)
-7.532
(5.400)
-1.423
(1.922)
-1.788***
(.387)
-1.204
(.962)
2.084***
(.568)
-9.754
(5.376)
-3.495
(1.948)
-1.236**
(.387)
-.445
(.938)
2.489***
(.544)
3.490
(5.452)
-1.536
(1.824)
Education,work, and family
behaviors
Work experience
-.733*
(.362)
.347
(.867)
2.329***
(.503)
-3.716
(5.156)
-2.959
(1.729)
-57.180***
(10.957)
302
.3377
18.043**
(6.520)
10.487*
(4.930)
37.003***
(5.151)
-57.483***
(10.303)
302
.4629
20.454**
(7.288)
20.158***
(5.441)
Education
Years married
--
33.522***
(5.468)
Additionalchildren
Sample size (n)
AdjustedR2
-1.780***
(.377)
-1.352
(.936)
2.136***
(.553)
-14.963**
(5.411)
-2.812
(1.864)
302
.2756
302
.2930
302
.3071
302
.3593
Note: Other control variables included in these models are county unemployment rate, county unskilled wage rate,
whether Black, always rural,years poor, AFDC income, numberof siblings, years with single parent,mother's education,
low educationalexpectations,individual's parentalincome-to-needsratio, state AFDC guarantee,state share penalty, age at
birth, and year child was born. All income variables,including the dependentvariable, are measuredin hundredsof dollars
($100s).
*p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001.
support emerges as a significant predictor of later
self-sufficiency-the amount of AFDC a young
mother receives soon after the birth of her child.
Early support in the form of AFDC is negatively
related to later marriage-oriented, self-sufficient
income. If the base model in Table 4 is correctly
specified, every $100 of AFDC income received
decreases marriage-oriented self-sufficiency by
$190. It is interesting to speculate why AFDC
income is an important predictor in this model
that uses a marriage-oriented definition of selfsufficiency when it failed to predict a stricter
representation of women's self-sufficient income.
It could be that women who receive AFDC are
less likely to marry or less likely to marry men
who earn high incomes. In the stricter definition
of women's self-sufficiency, AFDC income is not
negatively related to the outcome.
As we found with our first definition of selfsufficiency, the work, educational, and family be-
haviors that a young woman engages in after the
birth of her child are all significant predictors of
marriage-oriented self-sufficiency. Years of fulltime work experience and years of education remain positively associated with the outcome. The
size of the years of education coefficient is, in
fact, twice as large as in the women's selfsufficiency models (Table 3), suggesting that, for
this population, education is more important in
predicting the young woman's likelihood of marrying or perhaps the income of her husband than
it is in predicting her self-sufficiency independent
of marriage. It is not surprising that the number of
years of marriage is positively related to this
marriage-oriented measure of self-sufficiency.
Likewise, the association between having subsequent children and this outcome is negatively
related, as expected.
It is interesting to note that the relationships
between early economic supports and the mar-
322
Journal of Marriage and the Family
riage-orienteddefinition of self-sufficiency are
not much alteredby the inclusion of these four
behaviors.This suggeststhatthe long-termbenefits of child supportand the negativeassociation
of AFDC derive from somethingother than the
work, education, and family behaviors of the
young women. It may be, for example, that the
economicsupportsaffectthe pool of eligible marriage partners for this population of young
women.
DISCUSSION
This analysis has tried to answer the question,
"Whatare the associationsbetweenthe economic
supportthat young, unmarriedwomen receive
soon after the birth of their first child and their
later self-sufficient income?" We have operationalized self-sufficiency in two ways: first, as
women's self-sufficient income, then in a more
marriage-oriented way that includes the husband'sincomeif she has married.
When we comparethe resultsof these sets of
analyses, child supportis the only type of economic supportthat is a consistent predictorof
both types of self-sufficiency.Yet, we are unable
to shed muchlight on the reasonfor its predictive
strengthbecausenone of the behaviorswe investigatedappearsto be the pathwayfor this association. As we see in both Tables 3 and 4, controlling for education,work,andfamily behaviorhas
little effect on the relationshipbetweenchild supportpaymentsand self-sufficientincome, regardless of how it is defined. These results suggest
that the women who receive child supportmight
be differentfrom the rest of the samplein ways
not controlledfor in this analysis.
Othereconomicsupportsvaryin theirrelationship to the two types of self-sufficient income.
Sharinghousingappearsto be an importantstrategy for improvingeconomic prospectsof young
mothers by enhancing their chances of getting
more educationand of havingfewer childrenbefore their first child is 5 years old. But shared
housingdoes not appearto be an importantsource
of economic supportfor marriage-orientedselfsufficiency. Instead,AFDC income is important
and negatively associated with this marriageorientedoutcome.
These differencesarise becauseof fundamental differences between the two outcomes. The
first-women's self-sufficientincome-is a strict
representationof a woman's own economic efforts.As such, the model tries to understandhow
the behaviorsof the young womanafterthe birth
of her child influence this outcome. The other
outcome introducesthe husband's income as a
form of self-sufficient income for those women
who are marriedwhen theirchild reachesschool
age. Becausethe income of men tends to be substantiallyhigher than the income of women, the
husband'sincometendsto dominatethe woman's
income in this outcome. Thus, the models in
Table4 end up predictingmore aboutmen's situations or women's abilities to marrymen with
high incomethanthey do aboutthe women'sown
economicconditions.
These results emphasize the need to think
carefullyaboutour definitionof self-sufficiency.
This is importantfor developingempiricalmodels, as well as for informing public policy debates. Marriageis not a long-term solution for
making all women self-sufficient, particularly
amongthis populationwhose marriagesare especially frail (Furstenberg et al., 1987; Teti &
Lamb, 1989). Consequently, we believe that
women's self-sufficientincome is a more useful
concept than a marriage-orienteddefinition of
self-sufficiency for the development of public
policy. If the womanmarriesbut then faces marital disruption,which occurs with a high rate of
probabilitythese days, it is her incomeapartfrom
her husbandthat she is likely to be able to maintain without taking on additional labor market
obligations(althoughthere could be some added
private transfersresultingfrom divorce that are
uncountedin ourmeasure).If we areinterestedin
makingyoung,unmarriedmothersable to support
themselves without governmentassistance, our
first definition of women's self-sufficiency is
moreappropriate
for empiricalresearch.
The resultsof this analysisalso emphasizethat
young, unmarriedmothersare a diverse population. Once they have their first birth, their life
scriptis not written.Some are able to gain valuable workexperience,while othersare not. Some
are able to finish theireducationor postponeadditional childbearing.Some get married,while
others remainsingle. These behaviorshave significantramificationson theirlaterabilitiesto become self-sufficient.
By including behaviors that influence a
woman'sabilityto get a payingjob or to improve
her human capital, this analysis shows that a
woman'sbehaviorafterhavingan early pregnancy is important.While out-of-wedlockbirthsmay
contribute to detrimental outcomes for young
mothers,therearea numberof differentpathways
323
Self-Sufficiencyfor YoungMothers
open to them to reduce these negative consequences.Gainingworkexperienceis an important
way to increase a woman's ability to be selfsufficientlater, althoughthis is difficult without
adequatechild care or other supportsfor singleparentfamilies. Pursuingeducationand delaying
additionalchildbearingalso can have significant
implicationsfor a young woman's ability to be
self-sufficientin the future.
Future Research
Given the focus on young mothersin the recent
debate over welfare reform,researchabout this
population'seconomicfutureis quitetimely.The
researchpresentedhere is not, however, definitive. Severaltopicsidentifiedby this projectmerit
furtherattention.For one, additionalresearchis
needed that conceptually explores appropriate
definitions of self-sufficiency, particularlyfor
women and for families headed by women. Futureempiricalstudiesshouldtry to operationalize
this concept in a numberof differentways. Because the concepthas receivedso muchpublicattentionand is heraldedas a goal of public assistanceprogramsin the 21st century,more systematicresearchinto its natureis needed.
Secondly, future research should explore in
moredetailhow marriageinfluencesyoungmothers' long-termself-sufficiency.Withinthe frameworkdevelopedhere,husbands'incomescouldbe
added as a type of early economic supportfor
women who marriedaftertheirfirst child's birth.
Thiswouldhelpto showhow thistypeof economic supportassists women interestedin building
humancapitalthrougheducationor work experience or by delayinghavingadditionalchildren.
Our study also documentsthe importanceof
expandingtraditionalnotionsof economicsupport
beyond cash assistance for this population of
young,unmarriedmothers.Futureresearchshould
incorporateexpandednotionsof supportin the developmentof analyticalmodels.It also shouldtry
to cast more light on our understandingof how
child supportincreasesthe self-sufficiencyof this
populationof youngmothers.
Finally,the PSIDdata,while makingthis analysis possible, also have somewhat limited its
scope. We are able to measureself-sufficiencyno
later than when these women's childrenare between 5 and7 yearsold becauseadditionalwaves
of dataarenot yet available.Perhapsthe mothers'
work,education,and family behaviorsthatare so
importantin this analysisbecome even morepiv-
otal the longertheirchildrenare in school. It will
be importantto follow up on this researchwhen
more data are available.In addition,some types
of economic support-such as child care-and
measuresof importantchild outcomesare not included in the PSID data base. Exploringanother
dataset with this information,such as the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, could expand
this researchconsiderably.
Implications for Public Policy
The lessons from this researchsuggest that it is
importantto provide young, unmarriedmothers
with adequate income when their children are
first born.Since child supportplays an important
role, public policy can assist young, unmarried
mothersto become self-sufficientby establishing
child supportordersand enforcingtheirpayment.
Encouraging young mothers to share housing
with others is anotherpotential strategyfor increasing their self-sufficiency. While AFDC income exerts a small, negative effect on selfsufficiency,it does so only in the contextof selfsufficiencythat includesrelianceon a husband's
income.
This analysisclearly shows that the steps that
young, unmarriedmothers take following the
birth of their first child are importantdeterminantsof theireconomic securityand thatof their
children.Manyof these stepsaresubjectto public
policy interventions.It seems especially importantto supportinterventionsthatmakeit possible
for young mothers to gain work experience.
safe and high qualitychild care,
Transportation,
and tax credits for work-related expenses are
some of the public policies that can make work
morefeasiblefor them.This researchalso reveals
thatprogramsthathelp young,unmarriedmothers
avoid additional unintended pregnancies and
pursue their educations are critical. If we, as a
society, are committed to helping these young
mothers become truly self-sufficient, there is
muchthatwe can do to assistthem.
NOTE
The authorswouldlike to thankMaryCorcoran,Sandra
Danziger,andtwo anonymousreviewersfor theirhelpful comments.Partialfundingfor the analysiswas provided by the National Institutefor Child Health and
HumanDevelopment, Grant 1-R01-HD28145-01A2,
andby the RussellSage Foundation.
324
Journal of Marriage and the Family
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APPENDIX
OFVARIABLES
DEFINITIONS
Outcomesof interest
Women's self-sufficient income
Marriage-orientedself-sufficient income
Average annualincome from the woman's labor, child suport,and financial
assistancefrom relatives when first child was aged 5-7. Data are reportedin
hundredsof dollars.
Average annualincome from the woman's labor, husband'slabor,child
support,and financial assistancefrom relatives when first child was aged
5-7. Data are reportedin hundredsof dollars.
Focal predictors-sources of economic support
AFDC
Average annualincome the household received from Aid to Families with
DependentChildrenand other welfare programs,such as state general
assistanceprograms,while the first child was between 1 and 4 years old.
Data are reportedin hundredsof dollars.
Food stamps
Average annualvalue of food stampsreceived while the first child was 1-4
years old. Data are reportedin hundredsof dollars.
Child support
Average annualchild supportreceived while the first child was 1-4 years
old. The definitionof child supportincome changes a numberof times
duringthe PSID study.
Sharedhousing
Total numberof years the young mothersharedhousing with another
family unit.
Relative support
Average annualincome received from relatives outside the family unit
while the child was between 1 and 4 years old.
Factorsthat focal predictorscould operatethrough-education, work, and family behaviors
Workexperience
Numberof full-time equivalentyears the motherworked in the paid labor
force while her first child was between 1 and 4 years old.
Education
Amount of educationthe motherhad before the child was 5 years old.
Assigned 14 years if there was missing data and the individualwas away
at an educationalinstitution.Assigned 12 years if other missing data.
Years married
Numberof full calendaryears motherwas marriedwhile her first child was
between 1 and 4 years old.
Additionalchildren
Additionalchildrenbornto the motherbefore the first child was 5 years old.
Environmentalconditions
Countyunemploymentrate
Based on Bureauof LaborStatisticsmonthly informationon employment
and earningswhen the first child was aged 5-7. Missing data are assigned
the value of the nationalunemploymentrate for the uninstitutionallabor
force.
Journal of Marriage and the Family
326
APPENDIX
DEFINITIONS OF VARIABLES (CONT.)
Countyunskilled wage rate
Average county wage rate for unskilled male labor when the first child was
aged 5-7. After 1985, this variableis nongenderspecific.
Additionalcontrols:Conditionsin early adolescence
1 = if Black, 0 = if otherrace. Measuredat age 12 and determinedfrom
WhetherBlack
data on head of household.
1 = lived in ruralarea (where largestcity in county was less than 25,000)
Always rural
when motherwas between 12 and 14 years old; 0 = if she did not.
Numberof years motherwas poor when she was aged 12-14.
Years poor
AFDC income
Average annualincome from AFDC while motherwas aged 12-14.
Measuredin hundredsof dollars.
Numberof siblings
Numberof otherindividualsyoungerthan 18 years old living in the
household when the motherwas between 12 and 14 years old.
Years with single parent
Numberof years when motherwas living with only one parentbetween
ages 12 and 14.
Mother'seducation
Numberof years of educationthe woman's motherhad when she was age
12. If missing value, then assessed when she was aged 13 or 14. If no data
available, assigned 12.
Low educationalexpectation
1 = woman's parentsbelieve that at least 1 child may not finish high school;
0 = woman's parentsbelieve all childrenwould finish high school. Measuredonce when woman was between 7 and 12 years old because only
asked in early years of the PSID. Missing datacoded 0.
Additionalcontrols:Conditionsjust priorto the birthof the first child
Parentalincome-to-needsratio
Mother'sparentalincome-to-needsratio in the year before the first child
was born. If the motherhad left her parent'shome, no data were available,
and a dummyvariablewas createdand included in all regressionsto control
for this situation.
State AFDC guarantee
Maximummonthly AFDC grantpaid in the state for a family of 4 during
the year before the first child was born. Data compiled by RobertMoffit
for 1968-89.
State sharepenalty
1 = if the motherlived in a state with a reductionin AFDC benefits if she
sharedhousing with othersjust before the birthof the child. 0 = no state
penalty for this situation.Policy assessed in 1985 for continentalU.S.
Mother's age when her first child was born.
Age at first childbirth
Year child born
Last 2 digits of the year that the mothergave birthto her first child. For
example, 1981 has a value of 81.
Note: All dollar variableshave been convertedto 1990 values using the ConsumerPrice Index.