How old are U.S. fathers?

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Demographic Studies
• Public Health

Background:

• Significant data gaps exist regarding paternal age on U.S. birth certificates.
• One in six birth certificates lack father's age information, rising to over 40% for births to adolescent mothers.
• This data deficiency impacts understanding of paternal demographics in births.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the characteristics of fathers whose age is not reported on birth certificates.
• To identify demographic factors associated with missing paternal age data.
• To understand the implications of missing paternal age data on reproductive health research.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey.
• Analyzed birth certificate information and maternal survey responses from mothers aged 15-49.
• Compared demographic characteristics of fathers with reported vs. un-reported ages.

Main Results:

• Fathers with un-reported ages are significantly younger than those with reported ages.
• In 1988, 5% of fathers were under 20 and 20% were aged 20-24.
• Unmarried fathers, black fathers, and partners of lower-income women were younger and more likely to have un-reported ages.

Conclusions:

• The absence of paternal age data disproportionately affects younger, unmarried, black, and lower-income fathers.
• This systematic underreporting biases demographic analyses of fatherhood.
• Addressing data collection gaps is crucial for accurate public health and demographic research.