ADOLESCENT PREMARITAL CHILDBEARING - DO ECONOMIC INCENTIVES MATTER

We develop an empirical model of adolescent premartial childbearing in which a woman's decisions affect a sequence of outcomes: premarital p regnancy, pregnancy resolution, and the occurrence of marriage before the birth. State welfare, abortion, and family planning policies alter the costs and benefits of these outcomes. For white adolescents welfa re, abortion, and family planning policy variables have significant ef fects on these outcomes consistent with theoretical expectations. Blac k adolescents' behavior shows no association with the policy variables . The different racial results may reflect differences in sample size or important unmeasured racial differences in factors that influence f ertility and marital behavior.