The Long-Term Effects of Adolescent Childrearing

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women are used to explore the effect of adolescent childrearing on the hourly wages of women in the labor force. Women who were adolescent mothers earn less than other married or previously married women because of a persistent inability to achieve comparable educational levels. Adolescent mothers from more favorable socioeconomic backgrounds do better than other adolescent mothers in terms of education and income but, relative to women from the same background who postponed childrearing, their losses are substantial. Adolescent mothers are also more likely than other women to be or to have been single heads of households, with the economic disadvantages of that status. Public policy approaches to the prohlems of teenage parenthood must consider rhe provision of income resources and child care supports to enable young mothers to complete high school in order to further their chances for eventual self-support.