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…
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Journal Article
This study examines the impact of state welfare reform policies on the paternal involvement of low-income single fathers. Life history interviews were conducted with 40 African American fathers participating in a community-based parenting program in Chicago. Men's rightful claims to fatherhood were constructed through voluntary involvement with their children and enforced paternity establishment. Welfare policies gave precedence to child support and providing and dismissed fathers' in-kind caregiving. Policy requirements reflected limited understanding of related caregiving and providing…
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)
This project largely stems from conversations that began in 1996 and 1997 involving ObieClayton of the Morehouse Research Institute, Ron Mincy of the Ford Foundation, David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values, and others.From these discussions, three questions emerged. First, what are the best ways to supportthe growing fatherhood movement in the African American community - a movement thatis relatively ignored by the national media, but which is transforming the lives of many young, poorly educated fathers? Second, is it time for the nation's prominent African American scholars…
A large body of research documents the earnings advantage that married men enjoy over never-married men, the "marriage premium." Marital status is now a control variable in most earnings models, despite disagreements in the literature over whether the source of marital-status effects lies in productivity, selection, discrimination or other factors (Cornwell & Rupert 1997). Some analysts recently have included nonmarital cohabitation in earnings models, generally finding a somewhat smaller but still significant premium to cohabitation (Daniel 1992; Loh 1996). Almost all of this research…
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Journal Article
Using data from interviews with caseworkers in two agencies, this article describes the extent to which 74 African American fathers participated in services on behalf of children placed in kinship foster homes because of abuse, neglect, or dependency. The data revealed that few fathers were involved in case assessments, case planning, or receipt of services. Caseworkers usually did not pursue paternal involvement or identify lack of participation as a professional concern. The article explores possible explanations for the low participation and identifies practice and policy changes that…
