Family Structure, Function, and the Early Transition to Fatherhood in Great Britain: Identifying Antecedents Using Longitudinal Data

This study uses data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS) of Great Britain to identify social risk factors for becoming a father at a young age. The NCDS is a longitudinal study spanning more than 20 years. Findings reported here suggest that boys whose families experienced financial hardship were at greater risk for fathering a child while in their teens. Presence of older siblings was also associated with the transition to early fatherhood. However teen fathers were no more likely than non-fathers to come from single-parent homes homes where fathers played a minimal role in child management or those marked by domestic tension. (authors)