Content by Keyword: Youth

Overview of Main Results Directions for Future Research

1.  Among the 6,646 respondents to the NLSY97 1999 wave discussed in Chapter II , 976 did not respond to the 2005 wave. The analysis sample for this chapter is limited to the 5,670 original sample members who also responded to the 2005 wave.

In this chapter, we have used data from the 2005 wave of the NLSY97 to examine the romantic relationships of our NLSY97 sample members in early adulthood, when they were 21 to 24 years old. We find that most of these young adults were in a romantic relationship in their early 20s, but relatively few were married. Cohabitation was much more common

Until this point, we have examined whether various factors, such as gender, race/ethnicity, and income, are related to relationship behaviors and outcomes. Certain of these characteristics, however, may be linked with each other. For example, what if adolescents who grew up with single parents and those who grew up in low-income households are les

It is not only the type of romantic relationship, but also the quality of those relationships, that has important implications for young adults. Those in troubled or conflicted relationships may experience negative repercussions, such as compromised psychological and even physical health. Marital quality, typically the focus of past research, has

Although most Americans eventually marry, young adults are increasingly delaying marriage. National trends show that the age at first marriage has been rising steadily for several decades. In 1970, the median age at first marriage was approximately 21 for women and 23 for men. By 2005, the median age had increased to 25 for women and 27 for men (

How Common Are Romantic Relationships and Marriage for Young Adults? How Do Young Adults Rate the Quality of Their Romantic Relationships?

1. The gender gap in the percentage of high school seniors wanting to delay marriage for at least four or five years was 6 percentage points in 2006, compared with nearly 18 percentage points in 1976. This represents a statistically significant decline (at the .05 level) in the gender gap for this measure over this 30-year period.

In this chapter, we examined teenagers’ attitudes and expectations concerning romantic relationships and marriage. We find that most teens express strong general support for marriage and believe it is better to get married than to go through life being single. Among high school seniors, most also say they feel well prepared for marriage and expe

As described in the previous chapter, most teens have some experience with romantic relationships and dating by the time they reach late adolescence. In the 2006 MTF study, nearly three-quarters of high school seniors reported having ever dated, and 65 percent of 18-year-olds in the NLSY97 reported having had sexual intercourse. In this section, w

As discussed in Chapter I , many of the recent policy efforts aimed at supporting healthy marriages have been targeted to low-income families with children. However, in this section we show that it is family structure — and not family income level — that is most closely associated with teens’ attitudes toward marriage. There are also diff

Racial and ethnic differences in teens’ attitudes toward marriage are generally smaller than gender differences. They are also smaller than one might expect from the large racial/ethnic differences in family structure described earlier in Chapter II . In this section, we use data from both the 2002 NSFG and the MTF study to compare teens’ att

Gender differences in teens’ attitudes toward marriage have changed substantially in recent years. In the mid-1970s, teenage boys and girls expressed equal levels of support for marriage, but boys were more likely than girls to want to delay getting married until after finishing college or working for several years (Schulenberg et al. 1995). Cur

High-school-aged teens hold complex and changing attitudes toward marriage. Most teens express strong support for marriage and expect to get married one day. At the same time, most teens also believe they can live happily without getting married and that it is a good idea for couples to live together before marriage. A growing number of teens want

What Are Teens’ Attitudes Toward Marriage? How Do Teens’ Attitudes Differ by Gender?

1. For teens missing information for their household in 1999, we used data from earlier waves. A small number of teens (approximately 200 out of a sample of 6,646) did not have information on household income in waves 1997 through 1999. For these teens, we imputed income status based on race and family structure.

In this chapter, we examined teenagers’ exposure to and initial experiences with romantic relationships and marriage. We find that teens live in a mix of family structures, but most live with married parents — 50 percent with both biological parents and 13 percent with a parent who has remarried. The likelihood of living with two married biol