THE CONSEQUENCES OF PREMARITAL FATHERHOOD

Little is known about the consequences of premarital fatherhood. Few n ever-married fathers live with their children. Nevertheless there are good reasons to expect that these men's lives are influenced by their paternity. For example, men who experience premarital births are less likely to marry and more likely to cohabit, both of which are associat ed with lower levels of socioeconomic attainment. I use the first 15 y ears of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine the socio economic consequences of premarital fatherhood. Results based on hazar ds models and fixed-effects analyses suggest that men who have childre n before marriage leave school earlier, have lower earnings, work fewe r weeks per year, and are more likely to live in poverty than comparab le men who did not father children before marriage. These consequences of premarital fatherhood are partially the result of self selection e ffects, although many such effects appear to be caused by delayed marr iages and/or higher rates of cohabitation.