First published in 1986

Forty five percent of black women have at least one child by the time they are turn twenty compared to 19 percent of white women. Eight-six percent of the births to black teens occurred to unmarried mothers compared to 30 percent among whites. Research shows that teenage childbearing has negative medical, social, and economic consequences and that women who first gave birth as teenagers are more likely to raise their families in poverty. In Choice and Circumstance the authors explore three factors underlying the racial differences in the incidence of early childbearing; information about sex, pregnancy and contraception; need for family planning and abortion services; and motivation for postponing parenthood, including aspirations for schooling, employment plans and desire for children within marriage. They consider which teens postpone sex and pregnancy and why, and whether the kinds of motivation necessary to prevent early pregnancy vary by race in the United States, perhaps explaining the race differences in early childbearing.