In 1993, the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) published a 61-page review of Army family research entitled What We Know About Army Families. This report summarized research findings from approximately 70 studies on American military families and the implications of that research for Army policymakers, program managers, unit leaders, and supervisors. The goal of What We Know About Army Families was to disseminate research-based information and recommendations about Soldiers and their families throughout the Army community to help strengthen retention,…
This 80-page report examines the health and well-being of Minnesota's fathers and families. The report includes an introduction that examines the importance of fatherhood, statistics about Minnesota's fathers, and recommendations for promoting healthy fatherhood. (Author abstract)
In this paper I review Daniel Patrick Moynihan's views on employment and young black men in his 1965 report. I then update the evidence on their employment status, and review the causes and policy implications of these trends. Moynihan was extremely prescient in forecasting a "crisis...that would only grow worse." He understood that these trends involve both limits on labor market opportunities that these young men face as well as skill deficits and behavioral responses by the young men themselves. Policies that deal with a wide range of disadvantages and behaviors are needed to reverse these…
Brief
Many of the nation's most vexing domestic problems are linked with negative behaviors of and problems experienced by adolescent boys and young men. Delinquency and crime, school dropout, unemployment and nonwork, nonmarital births, and poverty are all associated disproportionately with young men. Two sets of public policies--wage subsidies and work requirements--that hold promise for helping young men increase their employment and earnings could thereby alleviate many of these social problems, especially poverty. (Author abstract)
We examine the consequences of incarceration for non-resident White, Latino, and African American fathers' contact with children and their formal and informal child support agreements. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we found that fathers' current incarceration presented serious obstacles to maintaining contact with children and interfered with the establishment of informal financial support agreements with mothers. Recent and past incarceration were strongly and negatively associated with how often non-Latino White fathers saw their children, while having a…
This paper examines the consequences of incarceration for non-resident White, Latino, and African American fathers' contact with children and their formal and informal child support agreements three years after the child's birth. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, fathers' current incarceration is found to present serious obstacles to maintaining contact with children, as well as to interfere with the establishment of informal but not formal financial support agreements with mothers. The effects of past incarceration, however, vary significantly by race and…
Brief
Churches are bulwarks of marriage in urban America. Analyses of data from the Fragile Familiesand Child Wellbeing Study indicate that urban parents who attend church frequently are significantlymore likely to marry before the arrival of children or to marry in the wake of a nonmaritalpregnancy, and they are more likely to experience higher levels of relationship quality. The churchattendance of fathers is a particularly powerful predictor of marital behavior and relationshipquality. Religious attendance appears to foster behavior among urban fathers that makes them moreattractive mates and…
