Life Course Determinants of Premarital Pregnancy and Abortion

Monica Gaughan, Columbia University

There are three processes affecting abortion which are interdependent, but not often considered together: women's level of sexual exposure in relationships, women's propensity to become nonmaritally pregnant, and women's structural positions which influence the decision to abort. This study uses event history analysis to examine how differences between women, and in women's romantic, cohabiting, and other sexual coupling experiences expose women to differential levels of sexual exposure and risk for premarital pregnancy. I propose a rigorous test, controlling for background and psychosocial differences which might account for women's different types of coupling behavior and propensity to get pregnant. Furthermore, I include changing educational and occupational opportunities that affect the propensity to abort once an unwanted pregnancy has occurred. Prospective and retrospective data come from the 1960 Child Health and Development Studies (van den Berg et al. 1988) and the Women's Roles in Young Adulthood Study (Udry et al. 1996).