Anderson, Kermyt G. 2000. The life histories of American
stepfathers in evolutionary perspective. Human Nature 11: 307-333.
This paper presents an analysis
of the characteristics of men who become stepfathers, and their subsequent
fertility patterns and lifetime reproductive success. Because women who
already have children are ranked lower in the marriage market than women
without children, men who marry women with children (e.g., stepfathers)
are likely to have a lower ranking in the marriage market as well. Using
retrospective fertility and marital histories from the Panel Study of Income
Dynamics (PSID), I show that men who become stepfathers have lower levels
of education, less income, and are more likely to have been divorced before
and to already have children, all characteristics that lower their rankings
in the marriage market. Men with one or two stepchildren are just as likely
to have children within a marriage as non-stepfathers, although men with
three stepchildren show decreased fertility. Among men age 45 and older,
stepfathers have lower lifetime fertility than non-stepfathers, although
the difference disappears when men's age at first marriage is controlled
for. Additionally, stepfathers have significantly higher fertility than
men who never marry. The results suggest that some men become stepfathers
to procure mates and fertility benefits that they would otherwise have
been unlikely to obtain; for these men, raising other men's children serves
as a form of mating effort.
Paper
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Last modified: 05-30-03
by Kermyt G. Anderson