Abstract

PIP: The purpose of this study is to examine factors associated with mother's age at first birth, specifically to examine the process whereby age at menarche may affect the timing of the first birth. A sample of 541 black and white women aged 15-29 at time of their first birth, was drawn from the birth records of residents of Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, in New York City. Mean age at menarche was 12.7 for blacks, and 12.3 for whites; the mother's education was only weakly associated with age at menarche. There seems to be a direct relationship between age at menarche and fertility only for black women. Age at menarche may be a crude indicator of fecundity, but does not seem to influence the timing of the first birth. However, there is some evidence that for girls who did not use contraception at the time of their first sexual experience, early age at menarche may be related to early age at first birth. Age at menarche does influence the timing of dating, and consequently the timing of motherhood, for black women only. Age at first date is correlated with age at first sexual intercourse especially for blacks.