“Like Parent, Like Child?”: The intergenerational transmission of nonmarital childbearing

Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (N = 11,180) are used to examine the intergenerational transmission of nonmarital childbearing for US men and women. Findings suggest that being born to unmarried parents increases the risk of offspring having a nonmarital first birth, net of various confounding characteristics. This intergenerational link appears to particularly operate via parents’ breaking up before offspring are age 14 and offspring’s young age at first sex. While the link across two generations in nonmarital childbearing is not accounted for by parents’ socioeconomic status (measured as fathers’ education), several mediating factors vary by socioeconomic background. Gender and race/ethnicity also moderate the intergenerational transmission of nonmarital childbearing. This research sheds light on the prevalence of, and process by which, nonmarital childbearing is repeated across generations, which has important implications for long-term social stratification and inequality.

► Nonmarital childbearing is transmitted across generations.
► The intergenerational transmission exists net of confounding characteristics.
► Parental breakups by age 14 and young age at first sex mediate the relationship.
► Several mediating factors vary by socioeconomic background.
► Gender, race/ethnicity, and parental education moderate the transmission.