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Intro -- NONMARITAL CHILDBEARING: TRENDS, REASONS AND POLICY -- NONMARITAL CHILDBEARING: TRENDS, REASONS AND POLICY -- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1: NONMARITAL CHILDBEARING: TRENDS, REASONS, AND PUBLIC POLICY INTERVENTIONS -- SUMMARY -- INTRODUCTION -- KEY FINDINGS -- TRENDS IN NONMARITAL BIRTHS: 1940-2006 -- Numbers, Percentages, and Rates -- CHARACTERISTICS OF UNWED MOTHERS -- Race and Ethnicity -- Age -- Educational Attainment -- Income Status -- Additional Children -- Cohabitation -- Subsequent Marriage of Mothers -- FATHERS OF CHILDREN BORN OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE -- Race and Ethnicity -- Age -- Paternity Establishment -- REASONS FOR THE INCREASE INNONMARITAL CHILDBEARING -- REASONS FOR THE INCREASE INNONMARITAL CHILDBEARING -- Demographic Factors Contributing to the Increase in the Number and Percent of Nonmarital Births -- Attitude Toward Marriage -- Lack of Marriageable Partners -- Biological Clock Issues -- Cohabiting Relationships -- Divorce -- Sexual Activity Outside of Marriage -- Declining Abortion Rates -- IMPACT OF NONMARITAL BIRTHS ON FAMILIES -- IMPACT OF NONMARITAL BIRTHS ON THE NATION -- Potential Financial Costs -- Demographic Impacts -- PUBLIC POLICY INTERVENTIONS -- Abstinence Promotion -- Evaluation of Abstinence Education Programs -- Comprehensive Sex Education -- Evaluation of Comprehensive Sex Education Programs -- Youth Programs -- Healthy Marriage Programs -- Evaluation of Healthy Marriage Programs -- Responsible Fatherhood Programs -- Evaluation of Responsible Fatherhood Programs -- Family Planning Services -- Adoption -- Child Support Obligation as a Deterrent -- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): Title IV-A of the Social Security Act -- FUTURE PROSPECTS -- APPENDIX A. DATA TABLE -- End Notes

Adolescent childbearing has received decreasing attention from academics and policymakers in recent years, which may in part reflect the decline in its incidence. Another reason may be its uncoupling from nonmarital childbearing. Adolescent childbearing became problematized only when it began occurring predominantly outside marriage. In recent decades, there have been historic rises in the rate of nonmarital childbearing, and importantly, the rise has been steeper among older mothers than among adolescent mothers. Today, two out of five births are to unmarried women, and the majority of these are to adults, not adolescents. Nonmarital childbearing is in and of itself associated with lower income and poorer maternal and child outcomes. However, unmarried adolescent mothers might face more difficulties than unmarried adult mothers due to their developmental status, education, living arrangements, and long-term prospects for work. If this is true, then the focus on adolescent mothers ought to continue. We suggest several facets of adolescent motherhood deserving of further study, and recommend that future research use unmarried mothers in their early 20s as a realistic comparison group.

AbstractExploring the patterns of population change under low fertility is a historical mission for demographic research in the 21st century. Taking Shanghai as an example, this paper discusses the new patterns and characteristics of people's childbearing intention and behavior under low fertility settings. The results show that Shanghai, as a typical society with ultra-low fertility, people's childbearing intention and behavior demonstrate the characteristics such as "downward inconsistency" between childbearing intention and childbearing behavior, "convergence" of childbearing intention and childbearing behavior between different sub-groups, "inversion" in childbearing intention and childbearing behavior with education and income, and the "decoupling" between marriage and childbearing. The childbearing intention and behavior of low fertility society as seen in the case of Shanghai show the patterns as somehow different from what was observed in a high fertility society. It suggests that many of the childbearing patterns shown in the high-fertility era may not necessarily be applicable in low fertility settings, and urges more research to be carried out in this regard.

The life‐table technique is used in this study to describe childbearing patterns in five Arab countries (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, and Yemen). Two summary measures are estimated: the cumulative proportion of women of a given parity having a subsequent birth within 60 months of the previous birth (quintum), and the median length of the interval between successive births. The analysis indicates that in Yemen (where the total fertility rate exceeds seven children per woman of reproductive age), women begin childbearing at a relatively early age and a large proportion of ever‐manied women reach high parity at a relatively fast pace. Morocco and Egypt (with TFRs of 3.3 and 3.8 children per woman, respectively) are characterized by delay in the onset of childbearing, a slow pace of childbearing, and a smaller proportion of ever‐married women reaching high parity. In Algeria and Sudan (with TFRs of 4.4 and 4.6 children), delay in the onset of childbearing plays a larger role infertility reduction than do the tempo or the quantum of childbearing.

Over one third of all U.S. births are to unmarried women, many cohabiting with their baby's father. While nonmarital childbearing is concentrated among the less educated, in recent decades, its prevalence has increased among those with a high school degree or some college education. This article explores whether cohabitors with some postsecondary schooling challenge normative views regarding marriage as a prerequisite for childbearing. Data are from twenty-four in-depth interviews with childless cohabitors. The majority of respondents intending to have children consider marriage a necessary prerequisite; adherence to this particular sequence is firmest for those with strong aspirations for middle-class status and professional careers. Nonetheless, a considerable share does not view marriage as an imperative, either for parenting or as an end in itself.

SummaryThis paper conceptualises the motive force behind human childbearing as originating in two broad traits which have biological bases, are shaped by experiences during early life and are expressed through their effect on desires and intentions. An instrument for measuring childbearing motivation, the Childbearing Questionnaire (CBQ), is presented. Using a sample of 401 married couples two main scales, nine subscales, and several independent items are described. Evidence for the reliability and validity of this instrument is presented. The versatility of the CBQ as a research instrument and the usefulness of the conceptualisation from which it is derived as a way of integrating social, behavioural, and biological science approaches to childbearing motivation are discussed.

This article builds on research in psychology, economics, and other fields, suggesting that, under certain conditions, extrinsic incentives could undermine intrinsic motivation, producing results opposite to those originally intended. It explores the relevance of these findings for population policies and particularly for pronatalist measures, and argues that reproductive behavior is intrinsically motivated, thus potentially subject to having the intrinsic motivation for childbearing adversely affected by policy interventions. Specifically, it examines whether, when, and how the contingency, universe, adequacy, and other aspects of pronatalist incentives could affect childbearing motivation. For example, parity‐targeted incentives seeking to compel higher fertility could be perceived as controlling and undermine that motivation. Conversely, policies seeking to facilitate combining work and family responsibilities could strengthen the intrinsic motivation for childbearing.