Exploring New Life Course Patterns of Mother’s Continuing Secondary and College Education

Abstract

A mounting body of evidence suggests that the life course sequence that once defined contemporary U.S. women’s lives is changing as an increasing number of women now complete their education after the transition to motherhood. Despite such evidence, we know little about this changing pattern of life course events for many U.S. women. The aim of this study, therefore, is to produce population-based estimates that describe the prevalence of mothers’ school reentry and secondary and college degree attainment, the timing of women’s post-childbearing education vis-à-vis their transition into motherhood, and the characteristics of mothers who pursue additional schooling. To do so, the study draws on data from a nationally representative cohort of U.S. women participating in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (n=4,925) and descriptive and event history techniques. Findings suggest that a substantial proportion of mothers (17%) completed additional education after the transition to motherhood, especially mothers who had the lowest levels of education at their time of first birth (high school dropouts) (43%). These mothers, who overwhelmingly earned high school degrees/GEDs, were most likely to do so within five years of giving birth, while mothers pursuing higher levels were more likely to do so when children were older. Mothers who pursued schooling after the transition to motherhood were remarkably more disadvantaged than women who followed the traditional sequencing of life course events. Compared to women who had the same education upon being mothers, they were also younger, more often poor, and had greater job instability but higher cognitive test scores.

Increased educational attainment among U.S. mothers and their children’s academic expectations

“…Moreover, there is emerging evidence that expectations may have particular significance for the youth who do not pursue higher education immediately following high school graduation. For example, a recent study found that the expectations mothers’ held during adolescence was one of the primary factors distinguishing mothers who returned to school to increase their education from to those who did not (Augustine 2016). Thus, in an era when education is now pursued in a discontinuous fashion, the power of youth expectations may extend into adulthood (Bozick and DeLuca 2005), thereby taking on new importance in today’s society as well.…”

“…The potential for such “selection” is pointed to in other research, which finds that in general, mothers who return to school are likely to be “positively selected.” For example, they have better academic records, higher test scores, and more financial and social support, and they report more positive experiences in their secondary schools than mothers with similar levels of education who do not return to school (Augustine, 2016; Brooks-Gunn, Guo, & Furstenberg, 1993; Felmlee, 1988; Way & Leadbeater, 1999). Furthermore, given how having children deters women typically from returning to school (Taniguchi and Kaufman 2007), mothers that return to school are likely to anticipate more positive returns from doing so than mothers who choose not return to school.…”

“…For example, among a recent cohort of college students, 26 percent were parents, of which 76% were women (Gault et al, 2014). Demographic research also highlights how among a contemporary cohort of U.S. children, 17% had mothers who returned to the educational system to complete an additional degree, including both higher education degrees and, with even greater frequency, high school level degrees (Augustine, 2016). This trend in which women with children today are pursuing additional levels of education presents a new challenge for research on intergenerational mobility, which remains grounded in a theoretical tradition (e.g., Blau & Duncan, 1967; Sewell, Haller, & Portes 1969) that originated during a historical era when women’s life course was still largely defined by a specific sequence of events in which the completion of school normatively preceded the transition into motherhood (Marini 1984a; Marini 1984b).…”

Does Postpartum Contraceptive Use Vary By Birth Intendedness?

“…We also included a time‐varying indicator of whether the woman breast‐fed at all during the month. Time‐invariant socioeconomic and demographic variables were age at birth, race or ethnicity (categorized as Hispanic, white, black or other), nativity (foreign‐born versus U.S.‐born) and education at the time of interview (which is likely similar to education at the time of the birth, given that births had occurred no more than four years prior to the survey) . We also included a time‐varying measure of union status (single, cohabiting or married).…”

Adolescent parenthood associated with adverse socio‐economic outcomes at age 30 years in women and men of the Pelotas, Brazil: 1982 Birth Cohort Study

“…The national conditional cash transfer programme increased school attendance among teenagers, mainly from rural areas, and decreased fertility rates among eligible girls from urban areas, within 5 years of programme implementation . Data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth suggest that women who completed their education after the transition to maternity and mothers who pursued schooling were more disadvantaged, more often poor, younger, and had greater job instability, although they had higher cognitive test scores . As a marker of social and economic disadvantage, childbearing in adolescence can be a cause of further disadvantage and health problems.…”