Social Determinants of Age at First Birth

A womans 1st birth is 1 of the most significant events in her life. It signifies her taking on the roles and responsibilities of a mother often to the exclusion of further education and career building roles. The earlier these roles and responsibilities are undertaken the less likely are alternatives to be taken and the greater is the expected quantity and pace of subsequent childbearing. Consequently this paper explores the social determinants of the timing of the 1st birth. A model is developed and tested in which a number of social factors are hypothesized to affect age at 1st birth. Age at 1st birth is allowed to have a reciprocal effect on education; thus the model is nonrecursive. Education at marriage is the most important predictor of age at 1st birth and the relationship is positive. Although a few social determinants do have a direct effect on age at 1st birth (such as race religion and smoking at young ages) most determinants affect age at 1st birth through education. (authors modified)