Neighborhood Context and the Transition to Sexual Activity among Young Black Women

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Citation

Brewster, Karin L. (1994). Neighborhood Context and the Transition to Sexual Activity among Young Black Women. Demography, 31, 603-614.

Abstract

Previous studies report that neighborhood characteristics influence pregnancy and childbearing risk among African-American adolescent women. These studies, however, leave unidentified the effects of many neighborhood properties on the proximate determinants of nonmarital fertility. In this study I examine the effects of neighborhood characteristics on the risk of nonmarital first intercourse and on contraceptive use among black female adolescents. The results suggest that neighborhood socioeconomic status, female employment and marital dissolution rates, and peers' departure from mainstream lifecourse trajectories influence young black women's sexual and contraceptive behavior. The effects of female employment and socioeconomic status are greater for teens in urban neighborhoods than for teens living elsewhere.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2061794

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

1994

Journal Title

Demography

Author(s)

Brewster, Karin L.