Destinies of the Disadvantaged: The Politics of Teen Childbearing

Preface

__________ Preface __________ THIS VOLUME IS the final in a trilogy of books on the Baltimore Study, a project launched in the mid-1960s when I began to follow a cohort of teen mothers who were interviewed during pregnancy and six subsequent times over the next thirty years. Over the last four decades, I have seen the issue of teenage childbearing go from near social invisibility to garner greater and greater national concern. This book provides an updated account of the teen mothers in our study and their offspring, but it attempts to do something more than that as well. My principal objective, explored in the second half of the volume, is to examine the wisdom and efficacy of several lines of public policy that have been established to reduce early childbearing and its possible adverse effects on the lives of young mothers, their partners, and their offspring. As will become clear to readers of this volume, I have grave misgivings about whether these policies have been well crafted to address the issues of social disadvantage that give rise to early and unplanned parenthood. In the more than forty years that I have worked on this project, I have been supported and aided by so many individuals and institutions that it will be impossible to acknowledge them all. But I would be remiss if I did not make some effort to identify some of the sources of this benevolence. I begin with the nearly four hundred families who have taken time to participate in the study. Since they remain anonymous, I cannot thank them by name; indeed, I have taken some pains to conceal their identities. From time to time, I receive touching reminders of their interest and involvement in the study, as some ix participants have written me spontaneously to express their thanks when articles or books have appeared in the past. These expressions have been my most satisfying rewards for undertaking this project. One of the great values of social science research is to provide the perspectives of those who do not have a voice in the public sphere. It is useful, even critical, for policymakers to hear and understand responses from those on whose behalf they presumably take action and with whom they often have no direct contact. As I try to show in this book, there can be a wide disparity between the presumptions of policymakers and the reality of the actors who are the object of public policies. Over the course of four decades, I have drawn so many colleagues and students into this research that I surely shall not be able to list them all. It is always hazardous to list some individuals by name, because I fear that I will neglect others who also deserve my explicit gratitude. Nonetheless, I cannot ignore the help on this volume that I have received from Marianne Bitler, Marcy Carlson, Andy Cherlin, Robin Rogers-Dillon, Kristen Harknett, Roberta Iversen, Dorothy Mann, Amy Schalet, and Kathy Edin, who have read and often made helpful suggestions for improving the manuscript. Among the many students and former students who have assisted me in the analysis I owe special thanks to Kathleen Foley, Monica Grant, Amy Johnson, Kirsten Smith, Kristin Turney, and Chris Weiss. The funding of this research reaches far back in time, and I will not attempt to thank again the agencies and foundations that have contributed in the past. The data that I collected in the last round of interviewing simply would not exist were it not for the support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. The present volume owes much to the Russell Sage Foundation, which provided both financial and intellectual support during the period when much of the book was drafted. I owe a lot to my friend Eric Wanner, who is the president of Russell Sage and has inspired me, among so many others. Thanks also go to Suzanne Nichols and her expert team at the press for the efficient and supportive way in which they do their business. x Preface Patricia Miller, who has been my research administrator, my notso -secret collaborator, and my good friend, deserves more praise than I can provide. Finally, my wife, Nina Segre, whom I thanked in each previous volume, provided another healthy dose of love and support during the decade it took to complete this book. She listened to my ramblings with...