This paper discusses some of the key issues facing fathers in Australia, including changing concepts about the role of the fathers and the potential impact of these changes on children. Recent fathering studies in Australia and the United States are discussed, as are statistics showing 19.3 percent of Australian families with children under age 15 are headed by a single woman compared to 1.9 headed by a father. The authors argue the concept of social fatherhood, including all responsibilities and activities fathers are expected to perform, has more influence on children than biological…
An examination of data from several large surveys of Australian families and child support records suggests unwed noncustodial fathers are significantly less involved as parents to their children than are divorced fathers without custody. Although almost one-third of children in Australia are born out of wedlock, no longitudinal survey data is available on characteristics of unwed noncustodial Australian fathers, or their role in their children's lives. As a result, any social policy directed at children of unwed parents must be developed without a baseline for future comparison studies, the…
An examination of the role of unwed fathers, this working paper challenges the common perception that unwed fathers are not active participants in their children's' lives. Research statistics on unmarried fathers, mothers and their children may be incorrect in concluding that most unmarried fathers abandon their children or less attached than those in other countries. The authors examine reasons why these prior studies may not be accurate, including overrepresentation of minority and teen parents in study populations, and other factors, especially in the first years after birth. Analysis of…
Research indicates certain qualities of the parental relationship can serve as a benchmark for the degree of involvement of unwed fathers and their children. This paper explores characteristics of parental relationships and unwed paternal involvement, as well as other causal factors that can affect the role of unwed fathers in their children's lives. The authors examined data in the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study, a large longitudinal study of parental relationships, involvement, and child well-being and development. A total of 3,600 children born to unmarried parents in 20 large…
The increase in the number of children being born to unmarried parents present a number of social policy issues for strengthening the involvement of unwed fathers with their children. This working paper examines trends in out-of-wedlock childbearing, the influence of fathers in child development, and how social policies such as welfare, child support, and fathering programs affect unwed fathers and their family involvement. The authors discuss a number of studies that have found paternal involvement to be associated with better emotional, behavioral, and developmental outcomes in children, as…
The degree of paternal economic and emotional investment in children and families has a major impact on child outcomes, however trends away from two-parent families indicate the need for social policy changes to further encourage active involvement by fathers, married or otherwise. The authors consider a number of economic factors that may contribute to the drift away from two-parent families in this review of the economic literature on welfare reform, child support enforcement, and labor markets, and their possible influence on paternal disengagement through divorce, separation and birth to…
This report outlines a process for evaluating responsible fatherhood programs. The design was based on interviews with experts, a review of the literature, site visits, and review by technical experts. Components of the recommended evaluation include management information systems, process evaluation, and impact evaluation. The report describes the major design issues for process and impact evaluations and examines considerations such as outcome measurement, explanatory variables, sampling and data collection, participation analysis, and impact analysis. Findings from an evaluability…
This report summarizes the findings of a study of father involvement in Early Head Start Programs, conducted as part of the national Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Officials from 261 Early Head Start programs completed an Internet-based survey about the characteristics of fathers, strategies for involving fathers, goals for father involvement, level of father involvement, characteristics of staff, and barriers to involving fathers. Respondents reported that an average of 44.6 percent of children served have a resident father and 24.9 percent have an involved nonresident…
This study examines the role and influence of fathers and father figures in the lives of African American adolescent girls (N=302) from a representative sample of poor and low-income families. Sixty five percent of the adolescents identified a primary father, of whom two-thirds were biological fathers and one-third were father figures. Adolescent girls reported more contentious and less close relationships with biological fathers than with father figures. Multivariate regression analyses indicated that fathers' emotional disengagement predicted greater depressive symptomatology and behavioral…
The children of incarcerated men are at high risk for poverty, community violence, poor school performance, gang participation, and delinquency. However, incarceration presents many challenges to parent-child relationships, including loss of income and ability to provide financial support, restrictive visitation policies, transportation for families, and literacy skills. States have a vested interest in strengthening families as a strategy for preventing the future criminal involvement of children at risk and for motivating men to succeed when they are released from prison. Innovative…
