The Research Review we present here has been compiled out of the realization that, in many policy areas, failure by policy makers and practitioners to address fathers' behaviour and concerns results in less than adequate provision for mothers and children. What is clear to us, is that the impact fathers have on their families, and, in particular, on their children -- an impact that is sometimes positive and sometimes negative -- is, in the main, going unrecognized. This Review is an attempt to fill this gap.
Contents:
* Section 1 - Active Fatherhood in Context -- sets the scene * Section 2…
Achieving balance between work and family--especially within a shrinking economy--is challenging for all families. The Obama-Biden plan for families includes several agenda items for supporting low-income and working families, and presents an overall strategy to strengthen families at home, to ensure that all American families can work and care for their children. This white paper notes lessons learned from the Office of Family Assistance Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood demonstration grantees. ICF recommends disseminating information on this ground-breaking work to promote…
This analysis draws on longitudinal, qualitative interviews with disadvantaged mothers and fathers who participated in the Fragile Families Study (a U.S. birth cohort study) to examine how issues related to men's employment, social support, skills, and motivation facilitated their care of young children in different relationship contexts. Interviews with parents indicate that while some motivated and skilled men actively chose to become caregivers with the support of mothers, others developed new motivations, skills, and parenting supports in response to situations in which they were out of…
This evaluation report is the first objective, third-party evaluation of the InsideOut Dad Program, which was conducted using findings gathered from a total of nine InsideOut Dad program classes that were held in seven Maryland correctional facilities. (Author abstract modified)
This chapter discusses the adverse effects of parental incarceration on children and the types of stressors children experience because of their parent’s arrest and imprisonment. The chapter concludes by identifying some protective factors that may promote resilience in children with an imprisoned parent. (Author abstract)
The subject of this paper is the association between the transition to fatherhood and men's work effort. We test three hypotheses: 1) that the transition to fatherhood is associated with an increase in work effort; 2) that the positive association (if any) between the transition to fatherhood and work effort is greater for fathers who are married at the time of the transition; and 3) that the association (if any) is greater for men who make the transition at younger ages. The data are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Cohort. We find that the transition to fatherhood is…
This paper examines how child support, frequency of contact with children, and the relationship between nonresidential parents influence early adolescent reports of the involvement of fathers and mothers in their life. Data come from the Young Adult Study of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) that has followed the children of NLSY mothers from birth into their twenties. Results show that increases in child support and in contact with the child after separation are linked to a better coparental relationship at ages 11/12. This better relationship between parents is, in…
This paper addresses the association of biological fathers' residence to their involvement and to mothers' involvement with their adolescent children, and the role of parental relationship quality in this association. It uses as its sample 2,161 adolescent children of young women from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Children living with their biological fathers report greater father involvement than children whose fathers are nonresidential, but this relationship is fully mediated by the quality of the relationship between the two parents. In addition, biological fathers'…
This study tested a model hypothesizing mothers' level of involvement as well as marital conflict, mothers' work hours, and father's status as biological or step father as influences on coresident father involvement. The analysis also tested hypotheses about mother involvement as a potential mediator of the effects of marital conflict and maternal work hours on father involvement, and hypotheses about factors influencing mother involvement. Primary data were provided by children aged 10-14 from the NLSY79 who resided with their biological or step father and with their mother. A composite…
Although research has demonstrated the importance of early parental interactions to the development of later adult romantic relationships, the influence of young adults' relations with their parents has yet to be determined. This paper examined how the relationship of young men and women with their own parents affects the quality of their later adult romantic relationships. Males and females (ages 17-34 years old) who participated in the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - Young Adult Survey 2004 and were either cohabiting with a partner or married were included in the current study…
