Resolution of Nonmarital Adolescent Pregnancy and the Transition to Adulthood: Educational Attainment and Financial Well‐being

Abstract

This paper compares educational and financial outcomes in early adulthood for four groups of men and women: those who never experienced a nonmarital adolescent pregnancy, those who ended a nonmarital adolescent pregnancy by abortion, those who married or cohabited and became parents in response to an adolescent pregnancy, and those who became parents but did not marry or cohabit following an adolescent pregnancy. The analyses are based on self‐reports of 6,074 young men and women who were first surveyed as seventh grade students in Houston, Texas in 1971 and surveyed again between 1980 and 1988. Educational and financial outcomes in adulthood vary significantly depending on the occurrence of a nonmarital adolescent pregnancy, the resolution of nonmarital adolescent pregnancy, and the age at which adolescent pregnancy occurs. Results are discussed in relation to public policies encouraging family formation and educational support and occupational training for teen parents.