Deciphering Community and Race Effects on Adolescent Premarital Childbearing

Abstract

While prior research demonstrates that living in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood increases young women's risk ofpremarital childbearing few studies have explored the mechanisms that accountfor this effect. Andfew studies have tsted Wilson's (1987) hypothesis that the pronounced racial difference in premarital childbeaning can be attributed largely to racial differences in neighborhood environments. Using longitudinal data from the National Survey of Children, wefind that over one-third of the positive effect of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage on the timing ofyoung women'sfirstpremarital birth can be attributed to the attitudes and behaviors ofpeers and to young women's more tolerant attitudes toward unmarried parenthood in distressed communities. A smallerproportion of the effect of neighborhood socioeconomic status on adolescent premarital childbearing can be attributed to higher rates of residential mobility in poor neighborhoods. Despite their centrality to theories of neighborhood effects, adolescents' educational aspirations, school attachment, and parental supervision do little to mediate the impact of community disadvantage on adolescent childbearing. We also find that about two-thirds of the racial difference in the risk of premarital childbearing can be explained by racial differences in neighborhood quality.