Download
Download Free Electronic Document
| Format | File Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PDF file | 0.5 MB | Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience. |
Purchase
Purchase Print Copy
| Format | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add to Cart | Paperback8 pages | $20.00 | $16.00 20% Web Discount |
This paper, a reprint of an article that appeared in American Sociological Review, Vol. 50, no. 6, Dec. 1985, examines how the birth of the first child affects the stability of marriages over the short run; it uses 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 birthday, 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 to 8 percent.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation Note series. The note was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1979 to 1993 that reported other outputs of sponsored research for general distribution.
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.