The study shows that the particular shape of the parents' propensity for offending over time can interact with their age at first birth to protect their children from delinquency. The study examined these relationships for children at 6 and 10 years of age, finding that for some groups, delaying childrearing can insulate children from their parents' offending. Intergenerational longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study were used to estimate parental trajectories of offending from their early adolescence through early adulthood. (Publisher abstract modified)