Adolescents today in the United States make the transition to adulthood in an environment that is very different from that experienced in previous decades. The family is one environmental component that has changed significantly. In this article, census data were used to describe the demographic characteristics of families of children ages 10 through 14 years in 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990. The focus was on characteristics that have established implications for short-and long-term social and economic well-being, including family structure, mother's age at the time of the adolescent's birth, number of siblings in the home, and parental education, employment, and income. The analysis indicated that the period between 1940 and 1990 saw a marked increase in the proportion of adolescents living in demographically advantaged family contexts. Whether the characteristics translate into a more or less supportive environment for the child depends on their relevance for that child's development.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alwin, D. F.
(1991). Family of origin and cohort differences in verbal ability. American Sociological Review, 56, 625-638.
2.
Amato, P. R.
(1993). Children's adjustment to divorce: Theories, hypotheses, and empirical support. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 23-38.
3.
Amato, P. R.
, & Rezac, S. J. (1994). Contact with nonresident parents, interparental conflict, and children's behavior. Journal of Family Issues, 15, 191-207.
4.
Astone, N. M.
, & McLanahan, S. S. (1991). Family structure, parental practices, and high school completion. American Sociological Review, 56, 309-320.
5.
Bell, R.
(1981). Worlds of friendship. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
6.
Bianchi, S.
(1990). America's children: Mixed prospects (Population Bulletin 45). Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau.
7.
Blake, J.
(1989). Family size and achievement. Berkeley: University of California Press.
8.
Coleman, J. S.
(1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94 (Supplement), S95-S120.
9.
Downey, D. B.
, & Powell, B. (1993). Do children in single-parent households fare better living with same-sex parents? Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 55-71.
10.
Eggebeen, D. J.
, & Lichter, D. T. (1991). Race, family structure, and changing poverty among American children. American Sociological Review, 56, 801-817.
11.
Furstenberg, F.F., Jr.
, Levine, J. A., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1990). The children of teenage mothers: Patterns of early childbearing in two generations. Family Planning Perspectives, 22, 54-61.
12.
Hansen, T. D.
, & McIntire, W. G. (1989). Family structure variables as predictors of educational and vocational aspirations of high school seniors. Research in Rural Education, 6, 39-49.
13.
Haveman, R.
, Wolfe, B. L., & Spaulding, J. (1991). Educational achievement and childhood events and circumstances. Demography, 28, 133-157.
14.
Hayes, C. D.
(1987). Risking the future: Adolescent sexuality, pregnancy, and childbearing. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
15.
Hernandez, D. J.
(1993). America's children. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
16.
Hill, J.
, & Holmbeck, G. (1986). Attachment and autonomy during adolescence. In G. Whitehurst (Ed.), Annals of child development (pp. 145-189). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
17.
Hofferth, S.
(1985). Updating children's life course. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47, 93-115.
18.
Jessor, R.
(1992). Risk behavior in adolescence: A psychosocial framework for understanding and action. In D. E. Rogers & E. Ginzberg (Eds.), Adolescents at risk: Medical and social perspectives (pp. 19-34). Boulder, CO: Westview.
19.
Kahn, J. R.
, & Anderson, K. E. (1992). Intergenerational patterns of teenage fertility. Demography, 29, 39-57.
20.
Krein, S. F.
, & Beller, A. H. (1988). Educational attainment of children from single-parent families: Differences by exposure, gender, and race. Demography, 25, 221-234.
21.
Maccoby, E. E.
(1992). The role of parents in the socialization of children: An historical overview. Developmental Psychology, 28, 1006-1017.
22.
McCartin, R.
, & Meyer, K. A. (1988). The adolescent, academic achievement, and college plans: The role of family variables. Youth and Society, 19, 378-394.
23.
McLanahan, S. S.
(1985). Family structure and dependency: Reproducing the female-headed family (Center for Demography and Ecology, Working Paper No. 85-23). Madison: University of Wisconsin.
24.
National Center for Health Statistics
. (1987). Vital statistics of the United States, 1984. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
25.
Powell, B.
, & Steelman, L. C. (1993). The educational benefits of being spaced out: Sibship density and educational progress. American Sociological Review, 58, 367-381.
26.
Simons, J. M.
, Finlay, B., & Yang, A. (1991). The adolescent and young adult fact book. Washington, DC: Children's Defense Fund.
27.
Smith, T. E.
(1990). Parental separation and the academic self-concepts of adolescents: An effort to solve the puzzle of separation effects. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 107-118.
28.
Thomson, E.
, McLanahan, S. S., & Curtin, R. B. (1992). Family structure, gender, and parental socialization. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 368-378.
29.
Uhlenberg, P.
, & Eggebeen, D. J. (1986). American adolescents: Improving environments and deteriorating outcomes. The Public Interest, 82, 25-38.
30.
U.S. Bureau of the Census
. (1989). Projections of the population of the United States, by age, sex, and race: 1988 to 2080 (Current Population Reports, Series P-25, No. 1018). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
31.
U.S. Bureau of the Census
. (1992). Marital status and living arrangements: March 1991 (Current Population Reports, Series P-20, No. 461). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
32.
Wojtkiewicz, R. A.
(1992). Diversity in experiences of parental structure during childhood and adolescence. Demography, 29, 59-68.
33.
Wojtkiewicz, R. A.
(1993). Simplicity and complexity in the effects of parental structure on high school graduation. Demography, 30, 701-717.
34.
Youniss, J.
(1988). Mutuality in parent-adolescent relationships. Washington, DC: The William T. Grant Foundation.
35.
Zill, N.
, & Nord, C. (1994). Running in place. Washington, DC: Child Trends.
