The timing and structure of fertility have important implications for individuals and society. Families play a critical role in fertility; however, little is known about how parental incarceration shapes fertility despite it being a common experience in the life course of disadvantaged children. This study examines the consequences of parental incarceration for children's fertility using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. I employ multiple-decrement life tables and survival analyses to estimate 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 subsequent births, as well as more nonmarital fertility, compared with those who do not experience parental incarceration. This analysis finds consistent evidence that parental incarceration is associated with the timing and structure of fertility and suggests that a parent's incarceration carries consequences over the life course of children. This study advances our understanding of how mass incarceration shapes American families, illustrates how the broader consequences of mass incarceration contribute to social inequality, and provides evidence that the enduring implications of incarceration span multiple generations.

中文翻译：

---

父母监禁如何影响被监禁父母的孩子的生育时间和结构

生育时间和结构对个人和社会具有重要影响。家庭在生育方面发挥着关键作用；然而，尽管父母监禁是弱势儿童生命历程中的常见经历，但人们对父母监禁如何影响生育率知之甚少。本研究利用 1997 年全国青年纵向调查研究了父母监禁对儿童生育力的影响。我采用多重递减生命表和生存分析来估计父母监禁与生育力之间的关系。与没有经历过父母监禁的人相比，经历过父母监禁的人的生育时间不同，第一胎出生时间较早，后续生育速度较快，非婚生育率也较高。这项分析发现了一致的证据，表明父母的监禁与生育的时间和结构有关，并表明父母的监禁会对儿童的一生产生影响。这项研究增进了我们对大规模监禁如何影响美国家庭的理解，说明了大规模监禁的更广泛后果如何导致社会不平等，并提供了证据表明监禁的持久影响跨越几代人。