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cited—that of mothers aged 15–19 with partners aged 20 or older; in their study, 65% of 15–19-year-old mothers had a partner aged 20 or older.5 Males and Chew took a similar conceptual approach, identifying “school-aged” mothers (ages 10–18) and their non–school-aged partners (19 or older).6 Grouping together 15–19-year-olds and their partners ages 20 and older may misrepresent the issue of adolescents bearing children with older men. First, regardless of the mother's age, the pattern of fathers being slightly older than mothers fits squarely within societal norms. For example, in 1988, babies born to women aged 21–30 were fathered by men who were, on average, three years older than their partner.7 While a 25-year-old man fathering a child with a 15-year-old would probably meet with social disapproval, the same might not be true for a couple consisting of a 21-year-old and an 18-year-old, particularly if they were married. Second, many relationships between men 20 or older and women 19 or younger do not violate any state's law, provided there is no forcible rape or incest. Although statutory rape laws vary from state to state, they always pertain only to minors—individuals younger than age 18, but the age threshold is lower in many states. Further, most states specify a minimum age that the “perpetrator” must be to be charged or specify a minimum age difference between the partners. Table 1 (page 62) describes the statutory provisions prohibiting sexual intercourse between adults and minors aged 15–17 for five states with the greatest anLaura Duberstein Lindberg is research associate, Freya L. Sonenstein is director and Gladys Martinez is research associate, all at the Population Studies Center, The Urban Institute, and Leighton Ku is senior research associate, Health Policy Center, also at The Urban Institute, Washington, D. C. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 1996 annual meeting of the Population Association of America, New Orleans, May 9–11, 1996. The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of Christine Bachrach, Robert Lerman, Kristin Moore, Joseph Pleck and Elaine Sorenson. The article was prepared with support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Office of Population Affairs (OPA). All opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Urban Institute, NICHD or OPA. Age Differences Between Minors Who Give Birth and Their Adult Partners