Fatherhood Summit Session
Substance abuse has a devastating effect on families, and it is especially challenging for low-income and minority fathers. This session addressed how practitioners can help fathers and families affected by the crisis.
The panel provided a backdrop review of the ever-evolving substance abuse prevention and treatment policies and practices in the U.S., as well as current trends and tensions in… Unpublished Paper
The negative effects of incarceration on child well-being are often linked to the economic insecurity of formerly incarcerated parents. Researchers caution, however, that the effects of parental incarceration may be small in the presence of multiple partner fertility and other family complexity. Despite these claims, few studies directly observe either economic insecurity or the full extent of family complexity. We study parent-child relationships with a unique data set that includes detailed information about economic insecurity and family complexity among parents just released from prison.…
This chapter draws upon 14 years of related ethnographic studies to uncover the principal features that characterize family life among the poor. Experiences dealing with multiple agencies are discussed, as well as experiences dealing with health problems in the context of the U.S. medical care system, and the aftermaths of household emergencies. 34 references.
This chapter reviews how theorists and policymakers portray the state’s capacity to alter the behavior and beliefs of low income parents and then highlights findings from a study of two women’s experiences in their efforts to find jobs and supportive resources. Finding a job and securing welfare supports were linked to their parenting pathway, however, the mothers’ first concern was their children’s well-being. The chapter concludes by exploring whether the motivating power of raising children might lead to a more effective family policy. 34 references. (Author abstract modified)
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Journal Article In this study, we examine how financial stress is associated with problem behavior in adolescents through the lives of their parents. Using an actor–partner interdependence model, we explore pathways within (actor) and between (partner) parents. Our data included 340 families, with both parents rating their financial stress, depressive symptoms, and interparental conflict, and with parents and adolescents rating parenting and problem behavior in adolescents. The results indicate that the association between financial stress and problem behavior in adolescents is mediated by depressive…
This fact sheet discusses findings from a KIDS COUNT report that highlights the ways in which parents are stretched thin working in low-paying jobs, the effects of inflexible employment on a parent’s ability to provide the emotional and physical care vital for early childhood development, and the detrimental effects of parental stress on children’s cognitive development. It then spotlights five two-generation polices to improve family mobility: home visiting programs, training health professionals to identify risk factors, streamline the process for accessing benefits, connect fathers to…
Adolescents who experience repeated change in family structure as parents begin and end romantic unions are more likely than adolescents in stable family structures to engage in aggressive, antisocial, or delinquent behavior. This paper examines whether the link between family structure instability and behavior in adolescence may be explained, in part, by the residential and school mobility that are often associated with family structure change. Nationally-representative data from a two-generation study are used to assess the relative effects of instability and mobility on the mother-reported…
Data and sources of information on the effects of father absence on poverty, maternal and child health, incarceration, crime, teen pregnancy, child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, education, and childhood obesity.
The absence of fathers in the home has profound consequences for children. Almost 75 percent of American children living in single-parent families will experience poverty before they turn 11-years old, compared to only 20 percent of children in two-parent families (National Commission on Children,1993). Indeed, virtually all of the increase in child poverty between 1970 and 1996 was due to the growth of single parent families (Sawhill, 1999). Children who grow up absent their fathers are also more likely to fail at school or to drop out, experience behavioral or emotional problems requiring…
Unpublished Paper
The success of welfare reform will depend on the existing capabilities of low-income parents, the stability of the parents' relationship and desire for father involvement, and the effects of local policies on parental relationships and child well being. These factors can be assessed with information from the current Fragile Families and Child Well-being study on unwed parents, which is following 3,675 children born to unmarried parents and 1,125 children born to married parents in 21 cities with different welfare policies and systems. The results of the study will demonstrate whether strict…
