Duration of Marriage and Age at First Birth: Is there a Decline in Marital Satisfaction?

• In Event: 398 - Visual Media Poster Session

Abstract

The past several decades have seen much research concerning marital satisfaction. Extensions of this work have examined the negative effect that bringing children into a marriage has on levels of satisfaction. Most recently, some researchers have sought to understand this effect according to age of parents at first birth. Findings have been somewhat conflicted as to whether or not being “early,” “on-time,” or “delayed” parents creates beneficial or costly outcomes for marital satisfaction. Such conflict suggests that another variable may be at work. In order to explore this possibility, duration of marriage and age at first birth were examined together using data from the 1987 – 1988 National Survey of Families and Households. A multiple regression technique is used to determine the robustness of duration of marriage before first birth as a significant predictor of marital satisfaction. Findings supports our hypothesis and other data analysis are in working condition to further strengthen this study.

Authors

• Andrea Laurent-Simpson, Texas Woman's University

• Maggie Bohm-Jordan, University of Wisconsin- SP