Family Planning Perspectives Volume 33, Number 2, March/April 2001 |
Teenage Childbearing and Long-Term Socioeconomic |
Table 1. Percentage distribution of Swedish women born in 1941-1970 who gave birth to their first child before age 30, by selected demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, according to age at first birth (N=888,044) | |||||
Characteristic | 11-15 | 16-17 | 18-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 |
(N=1,133) | (N=29,486) | (N=109,181) | (N=437,879) | (N=310,365) | |
Year of woman's birth | |||||
1941-1950 | 38.2 | 55.3 | 53.9 | 45.3 | 45.8 |
1951-1960 | 42.7 | 34.6 | 31.7 | 34.1 | 43.0 |
1961-1970 | 19.1 | 10.2 | 14.4 | 20.6 | 11.2 |
Year of first child's birth | |||||
1954-1963 | 27.8 | 30.3 | 21.3 | 4.6 | na |
1964-1973 | 47.5 | 50.3 | 49.0 | 44.4 | 29.3 |
1974-1983 | 22.7 | 16.9 | 22.3 | 32.5 | 42.0 |
1984-1989 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 7.4 | 18.5 | 28.7 |
Family socioeconomic background in 1960 | |||||
Blue-collar worker | 55.8 | 55.8 | 52.9 | 46.4 | 36.6 |
White-collar worker | 18.7 | 18.4 | 20.4 | 27.4 | 36.3 |
Self-employed/farmer | 12.1 | 12.8 | 14.6 | 16.4 | 18.9 |
Not employed | 5.4 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 2.4 |
Data missing | 8.0 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 6.6 | 5.8 |
Women's employment in adulthood* | |||||
Blue-collar worker | |||||
Unskilled | 40.4 | 40.8 | 40.2 | 32.0 | 16.8 |
Skilled | 8.7 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 9.6 | 7.7 |
White-collar worker | |||||
Low level | 11.2 | 13.3 | 14.1 | 17.1 | 19.6 |
Intermediate level | 5.3 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 10.3 | 22.9 |
High level | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 7.1 |
Self-employed/farmer | 2.6 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 2.9 |
Not employed | 21.5 | 20.8 | 20.3 | 18.3 | 16.4 |
Unclassifiable | 7.9 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 6.5 |
Data missing | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Living arrangement in adulthood* | |||||
Single | 32.8 | 26.1 | 23.5 | 17.0 | 11.4 |
Living with partner | 66.6 | 73.6 | 76.2 | 82.7 | 88.2 |
Data missing | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Educational level in 1990 | |||||
Low | 48.2 | 50.6 | 47.7 | 33.0 | 19.8 |
Intermediate | 37.0 | 36.5 | 39.9 | 49.0 | 41.1 |
High | 6.9 | 7.5 | 7.9 | 14.7 | 36.2 |
Data missing | 7.9 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 2.9 |
No. of births, 1954-1993 | |||||
1 | 16.2 | 12.9 | 13.5 | 14.6 | 18.3 |
2-3 | 59.4 | 66.3 | 71.3 | 77.9 | 78.3 |
4 | 15.5 | 14.1 | 11.1 | 6.0 | 2.9 |
>=5 | 9.0 | 6.7 | 4.2 | 1.6 | 0.5 |
Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
*Because socioeconomic outcome data for women born in 1941-1970 were obtained from Population Censuses carried out in 1980, 1985 and 1990, the women's ages in adulthood represented by these data vary from ages 20-39. (See text for further explanation of how the census data were applied to the maternal birth cohorts.) Note: na=not applicable. |
Table 2. Among Swedish women born in 1941-1970 who gave birth to their first child before age 30, percentage who were collecting a disability pension in 1994 and percentage who were receiving welfare in 1994, by age at first birth, according to birth cohort (N=888,044) | |||||
Outcome and maternal birth cohort | 11-15 | 16-17 | 18-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 |
Received disability pension | 9.7 | 11.5 | 9.2 | 5.3 | 3.2 |
1941-1950 | 15.1 | 15.6 | 12.8 | 8.4 | 4.8 |
1951-1960 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 6.2 | 3.7 | 2.0 |
1961-1970 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
Received welfare | 14.9 | 10.9 | 9.9 | 6.1 | 2.8 |
1941-1950 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 1.7 |
1951-1960 | 15.9 | 13.7 | 11.7 | 6.8 | 3.4 |
1961-1970 | 30.6 | 30.3 | 25.9 | 12.3 | 5.3 |
Table 3. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) for socioeconomic outcomes later in life, by maternal age at first birth | |||||||||
Outcome | 11-15 | 16-17 | 18-19 | 20-24* | 25-29 | ||||
Crude | Adjusted | Crude | Adjusted | Crude | Adjusted | Crude | Adjusted | ||
Not employed | 1.2 (1.1-1.4) | 1.3 (1.1-1.5) | 1.2 (1.1-1.2) | 1.1 (1.1-1.1) | 1.1 (1.1-1.2) | 1.1 (1.1-1.1) | 1.0 | 0.9 (0.9-0.9) | 0.9 (0.9-0.9) |
Unskilled occupation | 1.4 (1.3-1.6) | 1.4 (1.2-1.5) | 1.5 (1.4-1.5) | 1.5 (1.5-1.5) | 1.4 (1.4-1.4) | 1.5 (1.4-1.5) | 1.0 | 0.4 (0.4-0.4) | 0.5 (0.5-0.5) |
Low level of education | 1.9 (1.7-2.1) | 1.9 (1.7-2.2) | 2.1 (2.0-2.1) | 1.8 (1.8-1.9) | 1.9 (1.8-1.9) | 1.7 (1.7-1.7) | 1.0 | 0.5 (0.5-0.5) | 0.5 (0.5-0.5) |
Single living arrangement | 2.4 (2.1-2.7) | 2.3 (2.1-2.7) | 1.7 (1.7-1.8) | 1.8 (1.8-1.8) | 1.5 (1.5-1.5) | 1.5 (1.5-1.6) | 1.0 | 0.6 (0.6-0.6) | 0.7 (0.6-0.7) |
>=4 births | 3.9 (3.4-4.5) | 3.9 (3.4-4.5) | 3.2 (3.1-3.2) | 3.0 (2.9-3.1) | 2.2 (2.1-2.2) | 2.1 (2.0-2.1) | 1.0 | 0.4 (0.4-0.4) | 0.4 (0.4-0.4) |
>=5 births | 6.1 (5.0-7.5) | 6.0 (4.9-7.3) | 4.4 (4.2-4.6) | 4.0 (3.8-4.3) | 2.7 (2.6-2.8) | 2.6 (2.5-2.7) | 1.0 | 0.3 (0.3-0.3) | 0.3 (0.3-0.3) |
Received disability pension | 1.8 (1.5-2.2) | 1.9 (1.5-2.3) | 2.3 (2.2-2.4) | 1.9 (1.9-2.0) | 1.8 (1.7-1.8) | 1.6 (1.5-1.6) | 1.0 | 0.6 (0.6-0.6) | 0.6 (0.6-0.6) |
Received welfare | 2.7 (2.3-3.1) | 2.6 (2.2-3.0) | 1.9 (1.8-2.0) | 2.2 (2.1-2.3) | 1.7 (1.6-1.7) | 1.9 (1.9-2.0) | 1.0 | 0.4 (0.4-0.5) | 0.5 (0.5-0.5) |
*Reference group. Adjusted for maternal birth cohort and socioeconomic family background. |
Table 4. Odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) for socioeconomic outcomes later in life among women with education beyond elementary school, by maternal age at first birth | |||||
Outcome | 11-15 | 16-17 | 18-19 | 20-24* | 25-29 |
Not employed | 1.0 (0.8-1.3) | 1.1 (1.0-1.1) | 1.1 (1.0-1.1) | 1.0 | 0.9 (0.9-0.9) |
Unskilled occupation | 1.5 (1.3-1.9) | 1.6 (1.5-1.6) | 1.5 (1.5-1.6) | 1.0 | 0.4 (0.4-0.5) |
Single living arrangement | 2.3 (1.9-2.8) | 1.9 (1.8-2.0) | 1.6 (1.6-1.7) | 1.0 | 0.6 (0.6-0.6) |
>=4 births | 3.0 (2.3-3.7) | 2.7 (2.6-2.8) | 2.0 (1.9-2.0) | 1.0 | 0.4 (0.4-0.4) |
>=5 births | 3.8 (2.6-5.7) | 3.7 (3.4-4.0) | 2.3 (2.2-2.5) | 1.0 | 0.3 (0.3-0.3) |
Received disability pension | 2.0 (1.4-2.8) | 2.0 (1.8-2.1) | 1.6 (1.5-1.7) | 1.0 | 0.6 (0.6-0.6) |
Received welfare | 2.2 (1.6-3.0) | 2.2 (2.0-2.3) | 1.9 (1.8-1.9) | 1.0 | 0.5 (0.5-0.5) |
*Reference group. Note: All odds ratios are adjusted for maternal birth cohort and family socioeconomic background. |
© copyright 2001, The Alan Guttmacher Institute. |