Sociology Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Research on unintended fertility tends to focus on births as isolated events. This article expands previous research by examining the relationship between early unintended childbearing and subsequent fertility dynamics in the United States. Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth show that 27.5% of mothers report an unintended first birth. We use event history methods to show that these women are significantly more likely than women with an intended first birth to have an unintended second birth than to either have no second birth or an intended second birth, net of sociodemographic characteristics. An unintended first birth also increases the risk of having an unintended third birth relative to no birth or an intended birth, independent of the intendedness of the second birth. We conclude that early unintended fertility is a strong signal of high risk for subsequent unintended fertility
Copyright Statement
Post-print
Repository Citation
Guzzo, Karen and Hayford, Sarah, "Fertility Following an Unintended First Birth" (2011). Sociology Faculty Publications. 39.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/soc_pub/39
Publication Date
2011
Publication Title
Demography
Start Page No.
1493
End Page No.
1516