Choice and Circumstance: Racial Differences in Adolescent Sexuality and Fertility - Hardcover

Moore, Kristin A.; Simms, Margaret C.; Betsey, Charles L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 088738062X ISBN 13: 9780887380624

Publisher: Transaction Pub, 1986

Synopsis

First published in 1986. Forty five percent of black women have at least one child by the time they are turn twenty compared to 19 percent of white women. Eight-six percent of the births to black teens occurred to unmarried mothers compared to 30 percent among whites. Research shows that teenage childbearing has negative medical, social, and economic consequences and that women who first gave birth as teenagers are more likely to raise their families in poverty. In Choice and Circumstance the authors explore tree factors underlying the racial differences in the incidence of early childbearing; information about sex, pregnancy and contraception; need for family planning and abortion services; and motivation for postponing parenthood, including aspirations for schooling, employment plans and desire for children within marriage. They consider which teens postpone sex and pregnancy and why, and whether the kinds of motivation necessary to prevent early pregnancy vary by race in the United Sates, perhaps explaining the race differences in early childbearing.

About this title

About the Author

Margaret C. Simms is deputy director of research at the Joint Center for Political Studies in Washington, D.C. She has conducted research on black/white income, welfare issues, and education and employment and training, especially for youth. From 1983 to 1988, Dr. Simms served as editor of The Review of Black Political Economy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Transaction Pub
• Publication date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 088738062X
• ISBN 13: 9780887380624
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 165