RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Income Inequality and Early Nonmarital Childbearing
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 1
OP 31
DO 10.3368/jhr.49.1.1
VO 49
IS 1
A1 Melissa S. Kearney
A1 Phillip B. Levine
YR 2014
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/49/1/1.abstract
AB Using individual-level data from the United States, we empirically investigate the role of lower-tail income inequality in determining rates of early nonmarital childbearing among low socioeconomic status (SES) women. We present robust evidence that young low-SES women are more likely to have a nonmarital birth when they live in places with larger lowertail income inequality, all else held constant. We calculate that differences in the level of inequality are able to explain a sizeable share of the geographic variation in teen fertility rates. We propose a model of adolescent decisionmaking that facilitates the interpretation of our results.