How Parental Incarceration Shapes the Timing and Structure of Fertility for Children of Incarcerated Parents

The tim ing and struc ture of fer til ity have impor tant impli ca tions for indi vid u als and soci ety. Families play a crit i cal role in fer til ity; how ever, lit tle is known about how paren tal incar cer a tion shapes fer til ity despite it being a com mon expe ri ence in the life course of dis ad van taged chil dren. This study exam ines the con se quences of paren tal incar cer a tion for chil dren's fer til ity using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. I employ mul ti pledec re ment life tables and sur vival ana ly ses to esti mate the relationship between parental incarceration and fertility. Individuals who experience parental incarceration have different timing of fertility, with earlier first births and a quicker pace of sub se quent births, as well as more non mar i tal fer til ity, com pared with those who do not experience parental incarceration. This analysis finds consistent evi dence that paren tal incar cer a tion is asso ci ated with the tim ing and struc ture of fer til ity and sug gests that a par ent's incar cer a tion car ries con se quences over the life course of chil dren. This study advances our under stand ing of how mass incar cer a tion shapes American families, illustrates how the broader consequences of mass incarceration con trib ute to social inequal ity, and pro vi des evi dence that the endur ing impli ca tions of incarceration span multiple generations.