Fertility Following Marital Dissolution

Abstract

Surprisingly, nearly one third of all nonmarital births in the United States are to formerly married mothers. The author uses data from the National Survey of Families and Households to investigate the level and timing of such births as well as their determinants. Discrete time-event history analyses are used to evaluate the associations between various life course factors and postmarital childbearing. The present study improves on prior research by examining the role of postmarital cohabitation experience in fertility following marital dissolution. Postmarital cohabitation experience more than doubles the odds of having a postmarital birth. In fact, about 20% of postmarital births occur to cohabiting mothers.