The Timing and Circumstances of the Transition to Fatherhood

自20世纪70年代以来，许多变化极大地改变了年轻人和成年人为人父母的环境。拟议的研究解决了这些变化对美国青少年和成年人向亲生父母过渡的影响，特别关注早期父亲及其环境。为此，我们计划回答以下问题：除了经济和家庭人口因素外，社会政策如何影响生儿育女的时间和环境？这些因素对决定生儿育女的时间和环境的行为有什么影响，特别是结合形成、性行为和生殖行为？不同因素对亲生父母的影响在不同的历史时期、种族和地区有何不同

Since the 1970s, a number of changes have dramatically altered the context in which youth and adults become parents. The proposed study addresses the implications of these changes for the transition to biological parenthood among U.S. adolescents and adults, with a particular focus on early fatherhood and its circumstances. Toward this end, we plan on answering these questions: How do social policies, in addition to economic and family-demographic factors, influence the timing and circumstances of biological parenthood? What influence do these factors have on behaviors that condition the timing and circumstances of biological parenthood, specifically, union formation, sexual behavior, and reproductive behavior? How does the influence of different factors on biological parenthood differ by historical period, race, and socioeconomic status? To answer these questions, we will use data from several nationally representative surveys. We also plan to utilize a data set to be developed by the P01 core that will include economic, family-demographic, and policy variables at the state, county, and neighborhood levels for the years during which sample members are at risk of becoming a parent. Our models will estimate the effects of variables measured at several levels on the risk of becoming a parent.