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Research supports the anecdotal observation that unmarried mothers and their children face greater obstacles and suffer greater strains than married couples and their children. Less is known about the specific characteristics of the women who have births outside of marriage. This research brief paints a fuller picture of nonmarital childbearing. The data presented here dispel many inaccurate perceptions about unmarried mothers. Research findings indicate that: (1) the percentage of births to unmarried women increased substantially until 1994 and has since plateaued; (2) women in their early twenties have the highest rate of births outside of marriage; (3) teens account for a diminishing share of all births outside of marriage; (4) only about half of nonmarital births are first births; (5) the majority of births outside of marriage are unintended at conception; (6) racial and ethnic disparities in nonmarital childbearing are declining; (7) the proportion of nonmarital births to cohabiting parents is increasing; (8) whites show the greatest increase in births to cohabiting couples; and (9) the majority of unmarried mothers are romantically involved with the father of their baby at the time of the birth. The brief concludes with an examination of factors behind the trends in nonmarital childbearing, the implications of nonmarital childbearing for mothers and children, and public perception of the situation versus reality. Contains 20 references. (EV)

Despite a voluminous literature on the determinants of adolescent parenthood, little research exists on school-level influences on nonmarital, school-age motherhood. To address this gap, analyses of data from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) were conducted to determine individual, family, and school-level predictors of nonmarital motherhood of girls between eighth and twelfth grade for a nationally representative sample. All independent variables were measured in eighth grade, and the analyses were repeated separately for black adolescents and white adolescents. The analyses indicated that school safety was an important predictor of nonmarital motherhood. However, school context did not override the effects of family- and individual-level influences. Low individual educational performance measures, such as low test scores and grades, predicted a higher risk of early motherhood, as did being held back in school and repeatedly changing schools. A substantial level of involvement in school clubs and religious organizations was associated with a lower risk of school-age motherhood. Among blacks, attending sexuality education at least once a week was associated with a greater risk of having a nonmarital birth. In general, adolescents least prepared for motherhood and least prepared to be self-sufficient were at the greatest risk of a nonmarital birth during the high school years. (Contains 61 references.) (Author)

This brief presents a review of more than 150 research studies on adolescent reproductive health to identify the factors that contribute to improving adolescent reproductive health. These and other findings are highlighted from the vantage point of adolescents as individuals and within the context of their families, peers, partners, schools, and communities. In addition, a What Works table that identifies specific programs and approaches that have been found successful in improving positive reproductive health behaviors is presented. Experimental studies that focus on reproductive health outcomes discussed in the section on policy implications, show mixed results from evaluations of sexuality education and HIV education programs, which are part of many schools curriculums. Among programs and approaches found to be successful in improving reproductive health behaviors are those that focus on early childhood development, those that combine sexuality education for older children with positive activities, such as participating in voluntary community service and youth development programs, and those that send nurses to visit with teenage mothers with reducing the likelihood of having another child as a teen as one of their goals. (Contains 87 references and 1 table.) (GCP)

There is an extensive body of research on the factors that are associated with reproductive health, focusing on factors within the adolescent as well as within the various components of the adolescents environment. This paper presents a selective review of the research pertaining to each layer of the adolescent's ecosystem. Emphasized are (1) studies that are rigorously implemented, experimental evaluations of interventions, in which aspects of the environment are manipulated and reproductive health outcomes are examined; and (2) studies that are multivariate, involving the examination of aspects of the environment as predictors of reproductive health outcomes taking background characteristics into account. Throughout this paper, the aim is to go beyond the broad identification of which factors appear to be linked to adolescent reproductive health, to the identification of specific strategies that have been attempted and evaluated, and/or for which there is evidence that initiating programs with these activities has the potential to contribute to improved adolescent reproductive health outcomes. These studies indicate that interventions addressing the antecedents of adolescent pregnancy and STIs can be effective, with early childhood, youth development, community volunteer learning programs, and nurse home visiting approaches appearing as important complements to traditional sexuality and HIV education programs and clinic service approaches. (Contains 167 references and a research summary table.) (GCP)