Indicators of Educational Advantage and Pregnancy Intention

Akilah Wise, University of Michigan

There is a growing body of literature on the assumed implications of unintended pregnancy and demographic characteristics of women who have unintended pregnancies and birth. While many studies have confirmed that women with poorer education are more likely to have an unintended pregnancy, they have not addressed how education translates into pregnancy intention status. I investigate whether indicators of educational advantage in youth may aid in addressing the question of why women of lower education levels tend to have unintended pregnancies. Using Wave I and Wave IV data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), I find that household structure, mother’s education, and parental income predicts likelihood of having an unintended birth, yet the effects differ between Black and white women. Additionally, household income interacts mother’s education in which income reduces the positive effect of mother’s low education on unintended birth.