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How Resource Dynamics Explain Accumulating Developmental and Health Disparities for Teen Parents’ Children

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  • Stefanie Mollborn
  • Elizabeth Lawrence
  • Laurie James-Hawkins
  • Paula Fomby

Abstract

This study examines the puzzle of disparities experienced by U.S. teen parents’ young children, whose health and development increasingly lag behind those of peers while their parents are simultaneously experiencing socioeconomic improvements. Using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (2001–2007; N ≈ 8,600), we assess four dynamic patterns in socioeconomic resources that might account for these growing developmental and health disparities throughout early childhood and then test them in multilevel growth curve models. Persistently low socioeconomic resources constituted the strongest explanation, given that consistently low income, maternal education, and assets fully or partially account for growth in cognitive, behavioral, and health disparities experienced by teen parents’ children from infancy through kindergarten. That is, although teen parents gained socioeconomic resources over time, those resources remained relatively low, and the duration of exposure to limited resources explains observed growing disparities. Results suggest that policy interventions addressing the time dynamics of low socioeconomic resources in a household, in terms of both duration and developmental timing, are promising for reducing disparities experienced by teen parents’ children. Copyright Population Association of America 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Stefanie Mollborn & Elizabeth Lawrence & Laurie James-Hawkins & Paula Fomby, 2014. "How Resource Dynamics Explain Accumulating Developmental and Health Disparities for Teen Parents’ Children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1199-1224, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:51:y:2014:i:4:p:1199-1224
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-014-0301-1
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    1. Paula Fomby & Laurie James-Hawkins & Stefanie Mollborn, 2015. "Family Resources in Two Generations and School Readiness Among Children of Teen Parents," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(5), pages 733-759, October.
    2. Bradley Hardy & Timothy Smeeding & James P. Ziliak, 2018. "The Changing Safety Net for Low-Income Parents and Their Children: Structural or Cyclical Changes in Income Support Policy?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(1), pages 189-221, February.
    3. Rouse, Heather L. & Choi, Ji Young & Riser, Quentin H. & Beecher, Constance C., 2020. "Multiple risks, multiple systems, and academic achievement: A nationally representative birth-to-five investigation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Paula Fomby & Joshua A. Goode & Stefanie Mollborn, 2016. "Family Complexity, Siblings, and Children’s Aggressive Behavior at School Entry," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(1), pages 1-26, February.
    5. Barr, Ashley Brooke, 2015. "Family socioeconomic status, family health, and changes in students' math achievement across high school: A mediational model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 27-34.

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