FAMILY CONTEXT AND ADOLESCENTS EXPECTATIONS ABOUT MARRIAGE, FERTILITY, AND NONMARITAL CHILDBEARING

Data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience of Youth are used to examine adolescents' expectations about the occu rrence, timing, and sequence of marriage and childbearing. Blacks are the most likely group to expect adolescent or nonmarital childbearing, and the least likely to expect early marriage. Family structure effec ts are few, but suggest some ''nontraditional'' arrangements increase expectations for early family formation. In general, poverty increases and higher maternal education decreases expectations for teenage chil d-bearing.