Nonmarital Fertility, Union History, and Women’s Wealth

Abstract

We use more than 20 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 to examine wealth trajectories among mothers following a nonmarital first birth. We compare wealth according to union type and union stability, and we distinguish partners by biological parentage of the firstborn child. Net of controls for education, race/ethnicity, and family background, single mothers who enter into stable marriages with either a biological father or stepfather experience significant wealth advantages over time (more than $2,500 per year) relative to those who marry and divorce, cohabit, or remain unpartnered. Sensitivity analyses adjusting for unequal selection into marriage support these findings and demonstrate that race (but not ethnicity) and age at first birth structure mothers' access to later marriage. We conclude that not all single mothers have equal access to marriage; however, marriage, union stability, and paternity have distinct roles for wealth accumulation following a nonmarital birth.

Family Trajectories and Well-being of Children Born to Lone Mothers in the UK

“…This variation is associated with differences in the mothers’ income and wealth accumulation levels (e.g. Painter et al 2015), later health outcomes and psychological well-being (e.g. Lichter et al 2003; Williams et al 2011).…”

Gendered Wealth Losses after Dissolution of Cohabitation but not Marriage in Germany

“…These studies have generally examined household wealth of individuals at a given point in time depending on partnership trajectories experienced in the past (with the exception of the analysis of changes over time performed by Zagorsky [2005]). Individuals who experienced a union dissolution are found to have lower household wealth compared to continuously partnered people (Addo & Lichter, 2013;Painter et al, 2015;Wilmoth & Koso, 2002;Zagorsky, 2005). Findings regarding re-marriage have been mixed.…”

“…A handful of studies have documented how union dissolution relates to wealth in the United States (Addo & Lichter, 2013;Halpern-Manners et al, 2015;Painter et al, 2015;Wilmoth & Koso, 2002;Zagorsky, 2005). These studies have generally examined household wealth of individuals at a given point in time depending on partnership trajectories experienced in the past (with the exception of the analysis of changes over time performed by Zagorsky [2005]).…”

“…Given that these economic consequences are greater for women (Andreß et al 2006;DiPrete & McManus, 2000;Van Damme et al, 2008), union dissolution has become a factor that contributes to gender inequality in economic resources. What is missing from this relatively large body of literature on the economic consequences of union dissolution is what happens with men's and women's wealth after a union dissolution (exceptions are Addo & Lichter, 2013;Painter et al, 2015;Wilmoth & Koso, 2002;Zagorsky, 2005).…”

Multiple Barriers to Economic Opportunity for the “Truly” Disadvantaged and Vulnerable

“…Fisher and his colleagues (2015) are unable to differentiate between never-married mothers and their discontinuously married counterparts, but it is clear that children being raised by single parents in 2010 were predominately in the bottom 40 percent in each distribution (see also Painter, Frech, and Williams 2015). Perhaps the most differential rankings have to do with the educational status of adults, where high school dropouts are most heavily clustered in the bottom 40 percent of each distribution.…”