Brief
Between July 1998 and October 1999, the Center on Fathers, Families, and Public Policy (CFFPP) held a series of colloquia that focused on the experiences of low-income fathers as they negotiate the systems of paternity establishment and child support enforcement. The meetings were attended by low-income, mostly never-married noncustodial fathers, caseworkers from community-based organizations who work with low-income, never-married noncustodial fathers, researchers, policy analysts, and poverty lawyers whose work has centered on low-income noncustodial fathers and their families. The…
NRFC Quick Statistics and Research Reviews, Brief
In 2016, more than one in four children under 21 in the United States lived in a household apart from one of their parents. In 80 percent of these households, the custodial parent was the mother and the non-residential parent was the father. The amount and frequency of financial support that both parents provide shapes household economic stability, which can also affect children’s overall health and well-being. Non-residential parents often have a legal obligation to help pay the costs associated with raising their children. However, some non-residential parents pay these costs…
Brief
Using data from the National Survey of Early Care and Education, this brief reports differences in the child care settings foreign-born and US-born parents select for their young children. The authors explore differences in parents’ child care preferences and perceptions and how being an immigrant and having limited English proficiency, among other factors, might influence parents’ interest in and ability to access different child care. (Author abstract)
Brief
Low-skilled men, especially minorities, typically work at low levels and provide little support for their children. Conservatives blame this on government willingness to support families, which frees the fathers from responsibility, while liberals say that men are denied work by racial bias or the economy--either a lack of jobs or low wages, which depress the incentive to work. The evidence for all these theories is weak. Thus, changing program benefits or incentives is unlikely to solve the men's work problem. More promising is the idea of linking assistance with administrative requirements…
Unpublished Paper
The purpose of this study was to examine the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of nonresident fathers' involvement on children's development in poor and near-poor African American single-mother families, using a longitudinal dataset from the first three waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Based on Bronfenbrenner's (1988) person-process-context ecological model, this study investigated whether nonresident fathers' involvement with poor and near-poor single mothers and their children would be associated with the mothers' parenting and the children's behavioral and…
Brief
Over time, the American workforce has become more educated and the college-going population has diversified. Today’s students tend to be older and often have young children. About 1 million low-income parents who attend school or training also work. Further, many combine full-time work with full-time school attendance. This brief summarizes this population’s characteristics, how they address these competing demands, and the supports they receive while doing so. The brief suggests how existing federal policy initiatives such as the new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the Child…
Brief
This research brief, from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families, provides a national portrait of low-income Hispanic families in the U.S. Having a better understanding of these families will help programs and policymakers in their efforts to assist these families. We use recent nationally-representative data to describe the relationship and childbearing histories of low-income Hispanic men and women aged 15 to 44. Importantly, we distinguish by nativity—i.e., born in the U.S. versus in some other country—as family formation patterns vary greatly by nativity, and these…
Brief
Socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural variations among fathers and differences in family structure may affect fathers' roles and their level of involvement with their children. This brief summarizes key research findings on the ways in which various factors influence fathers' involvement in children's lives. (Author abstract)
Brief
The rise in single parenthood in the U.S. is well-known. Today, nearly a third of all children born in the United States are born to unmarried parents; the proportions are even higher among poor and minority populations--40 percent among Hispanics and 70 percent among African Americans. Yet, we know very little about these families, particularly about the fathers. Consequently, much of what we read in the newspapers or hear on television about unwed parents is based on anecdotal rather than scientific evidence. This policy brief is intended to dispel three common myths about unwed fathers and…
