Biological Father Presence: Does Biological Father Presence during Adolescence Reduce the Likelihood of a Repeat Teen Births?

Background/Purpose: Black adolescent females have higher birth rates than their counterparts in other ethnic groups. It is expected that 18% of black adolescent females will experience a birth before her 20^th birthday. To make matters worse, one out of five births to teen mothers is a repeat birth. Black teens that are likely to give birth before the age of 20 are also at a greater risk of having a second birth before the age of 20. The consequences of having one teen birth lessens a teen’s chance of graduating from high school, and limits viable employment options which increase the likelihood that she would need to rely on public welfare benefits and experience a life of poverty. This study will examine the relationship between repeat teen births and biological father presence, whether a biological father living in the respondent’s household from birth to age 18 is related to having a single and/or repeat births before the age of 20. The research question is: For black women respondents, is biological father presence in the home between birth and age 18 associated with having one or more births before age 20, compared to having children after age 20?  

Methods: Data for this study come from the 2006-2010 sample of female respondents of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). The subpopulation used for this study comprise of 2,722 black women respondents. The outcome measure of one or more births before the age 20 was measured by whether the respondent lived with both a biological father and mother between birth and age 18, controlling for mother’s level of education, mother’s age at first birth and contraception use such as the use of the birth control pill and condom at anytime. Each measure was dichotomized for the use of binary logistical regression.

Results: For black women, the odds of having one or more children under the age of 20, versus black women that had one or more children over age 20, are two times (2.08) higher for black women that grow up without a biological father in the home, compared to black women that grow up with a biological father in the home, controlling for mother’s level of education, mother’s age at first birth and birth control pill and condom use. 

Conclusion and Implications: Considering the despairing rates of repeat teen births among black adolescent females, this research is important for exploring the variability of birth activity among a sole sample of black women. Although teen birth rates have declined over the past few decades, the issue of repeat teen births has not, specifically for black adolescent females. Furthermore, scant literature investigates the growing problem of repeat teen births among black female teens, yet with little focus on biological father presence as a factor. This study fills the gap for investigating the relationship of biological father presence and repeat teen births, which can contribute to future research on biological father involvement, inform fatherhood policies and interventions aimed at increased biological father involvement.