Original article
Long-Term Consequences of Adolescent Parenthood Among African-American Urban Youth: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to improve understanding of long-term socioeconomic consequences of teen parenting for men and women.

Methods

Analysis is based on the Woodlawn Study, a longitudinal study of an African-American cohort from a socially disadvantaged community in Chicago; data were collected at childhood (N = 1,242), adolescence (N = 705), young adulthood (age 32 years, N = 952), and midlife (age 42 years, N = 833). This analysis focused on the 1,050 individuals with data on teen parenting. We used propensity score matching to account for differences in background characteristics between teenage parents and their peers and used multiple imputation to account for differential attrition.

Results

The regression models after propensity score matching showed that at the age of 32 years, in comparison to nonteen mothers, teenage mothers were more likely to be unemployed, live in poverty, depend on welfare, and have earned a GED or completed high school compared to finishing college. At the age of 32 years, teen fathers were more likely to be without a job than nonteen fathers. At the age of 42 years, the effect of teen parenting for women remained statistically significant for education and income. There were no significant associations between teen parenting and outcomes for men at the age of 42 years.

Conclusions

Socioeconomic consequences of teenage parenting among African-Americans from disadvantaged background seem to be primarily concentrated in women and persist throughout adulthood. In addition to promoting the delay of parenting after the teenage years, it is critical to provide programs at early stages in the life course to mitigate the negative socioeconomic consequences of teenage motherhood as effects for women are broad.

Section snippets

Present study and hypotheses

The aim of this study is to identify long-term socioeconomic consequences of teenage parenthood for women and for men. Although most studies have focused on short-term outcomes (e.g., into the early 20s) [4], [6], [7], this study examines socioeconomic outcomes at two points further into adulthood (ages 32 and 42 years) to identify the persistence of effects. Analyses of long-term consequences among teenage fathers are rare [20], [22], [23], and this work allows for an identification of effects

Sample

This analysis is based on the Woodlawn Study, a longitudinal study of African-American cohort from a socially disadvantaged community in Chicago. All first graders in the nine public and three parochial schools in the Woodlawn community were invited to participate and only 13 families declined [25]. In this study, data were collected at four time points. In first grade (1966–1967; age, 6 years), teachers and mothers (or mother surrogates) were interviewed (N = 1,242). When these children were

Results

Women were statistically significantly more likely than men to have a child as a teenager with 37.3% of women and 19.3% of men becoming teen parents (see Table 1). Also shown in Table 1, participants were relatively disadvantaged in adulthood, particularly as young adults. Overall, women were more educated than men at both young adulthood and midlife but had higher rates of welfare receipt in young adulthood.

As shown in Table 2, compared to nonteenage mothers, teenage mothers were more likely

Discussion

This study identified the socioeconomic consequences in the 30s and 40s of teenage parenthood among a cohort of urban African-American men and women from disadvantaged backgrounds. We hypothesized that teenage parenting perpetuates early disadvantage so that teen parents lag behind in adult educational and economic outcomes when compared to peers with similar background characteristics. A key finding is the difference in the breadth of socioeconomic consequences of teenage parenting we observed

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse grant R01DA026863 (to K.M.G., Principal Investigator). The authors thank Catherine Maybury for careful review and contributions to the article. We are very grateful to the Woodlawn cohort participants, the Woodlawn Study Advisory Board, the Woodlawn Study Team, Margaret Ensminger, and Sheppard Kellam for their participation and guidance over many years.

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    Conflicts of Interest: This research was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant R01DA026863 (to K.M.G., Principal Investigator).

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