Incarceration, Fertility, and Early Transition to Parenthood in the United States

• In Event: Parental Incarceration and Collateral Consequences

Abstract

Substantial evidence suggests incarceration has deleterious effects on families and children; despite this link only limited empirical work investigates the fertility of incarcerated women directly. Using the Survey of Prison Inmates and the National Survey of Family Growth, we estimate fertility timing for currently incarcerated women and non-institutionalized women in the United States. We compare differences in age at first birth across race, education and time. Overall, we find that incarcerated women have a first birth, on average, five years earlier than non-institutionalized women. Black incarcerated women and incarcerated women without college are more likely to have earlier births compared to White women and women with any college. In contrast to the well documented trend of fertility postponement, incarcerated women exhibit a stagnation in the age at first birth from 1979-2016. Coupled with the positive postponement trend among non-institutionalized women, we demonstrate a divergence in fertility timing. These findings suggest that women who experience incarceration have fertility that is distinct from the overall population and that incarceration is associated with earlier transition to parenthood. Our work calls for a closer look at the long-term impacts of incarceration on fertility for current and future mothers.

Authors

• Max I. Lisch, The University of Texas at Austin

• Chloe Craig, Dickinson College