The Consequences of Parenthood for the Marital Stability of Young Adults

This paper examines how the birth of the first child affects the stability of marriages over the short run: it uses [U.S.] data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. [The] results show strong positive effects of the first birth on the marital stability of young adults. [The authors] estimate that by the time the first child reaches his second birth [date] more than 20 percent of the parents would have been divorced or separated if the child had not been born compared to actual disruption rates of 5-8 percent. (EXCERPT)