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The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
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Why Do Poor Men Have Children? Fertility Intentions among Low-Income Unmarried U.S. Fathers

Jennifer March Augustine

Department of Sociology and research trainee at the Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

Timothy Nelson

Harvard University

Kathryn Edin

Harvard University

Over the past several decades, nonmarital childbearing rates have risen sharply, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Recent research suggests that disadvantaged Americans may defer or delay marriage in part because of perceived economic barriers. Yet, childbearing is also costly. Few studies have examined low-income parents' motivations for having children in a context of socioeconomic disadvantage. This study deploys qualitative data drawn from repeated, in-depth interviews with a heterogeneous sample of low-income, noncustodial fathers (N = 171) in which men describe in rich detail the circumstances surrounding the conceptions of each of their children and characterize their fertility intentions. The authors find that "planned" and "unplanned" pregnancies are at either end of a continuum of intentionality and that the vast majority of pregnancies are in intermediate categories along that continuum.

Key Words: poverty • fatherhood • nonmarital childbearing • fertility decisions • planned pregnancy • unplanned pregnancy • disadvantage

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 624, No. 1, 99-117 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0002716209334694
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