Couples are postponing marriage, having fewer children, or going childless. One-third of American births are to unmarried women. The value of marriage seems to have diminished for many, particularly for African Americans.
Sexual activity is initiated at earlier ages.
At least 57 percent of pregnancies are reported as unintended. Although adolescents contribute less than one-third of nonmarital births, teenage childbearing raises important social and public health issues. Women's labor force participation has been growing rapidly, yet fertility rates have remained unchanged or have risen slightly, despite inadequate institutional support for working mothers. The rise or fall of fertility levels has major implications for policy formulation in such vital areas as social security, education, and poverty. This book identifies those forces keeping American fertility higher than in much of the rest of the industrialized world and those forces exerting downward pressure on it.