Intermediate determinants of racial differences in 1980 U.S. nonmarital fertility rates

There are four major determinants of racial differences in nonmarital fertility rates in the U.S.: differential sexual activity (exposure to risk); differential in spontaneous and induced abortion; differential contraceptive use (including method efficacy); and differential legitimation, through marriage, of births conceived out of wedlock. Racial differences in all four indicators encourage higher black than white nonmarital fertility rates in every age-group examined; however, the relative contribution of each determinant to differences in nonmarital fertility varies according to age. The gap between whites and blacks in contraceptive use is of greatest concern to policy-makers, because family planning effectiveness can, at least theoretically, be changed by program effort. However, even if black women and white women had equivalent levels of contraceptive use, sexual activity and recourse to abortion, there would still be substantial racial differences in nonmarital fertility rates because of the greater propensity among whites to legitimate premaritally conceived births.