Community Context and Race/Ethnic Differences in Non-Marital Fertility.

This project will look at race/ethnic differences in non-marital fertility, and at the role that community context plays in this relationship, paying particular attention to the high levels of non-marital fertility among Mexican American women. Drawing from theory based on blackwhite differences, I will look at the role that structural and economic factors play in maintaining group differences in non-marital fertility as well as the role of race/ethnic segregation. Additionally I will explore whether a more familistic culture among Mexican Americans protects them from the deleterious effects of neighborhood disadvantage. This research will use the NSFG and the NSFG-CDF to extend research on race/ethnic differences in non-marital fertility by including Mexican Americans. This, in turn, will contribute to the refinement of theory, which is largely based on black-white differences in family formation processes. This research will employ multilevel event history models in order to appropriately identify the effects of macro-level characteristics at the county level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]