This study presents a longitudinal analysis of young Hispanic fathers' involvement with their children during and following a fatherhood program. It was conducted within the scope of a teen parenting program in Arlington County, Virginia, and uses a nonprobability sample of young men who volunteered for the program. Results indicated that father involvement increased steadily and significantly from the program pretest to 2 years postprogram. Results also indicated that there were no differences between father involvement for male and female children, as previous research had proposed, and…
Mothers are often children's primary caregivers. Fathers have historically been viewed as marginally involved, leaving mothers with disproportionate shares of the parenting responsibilities and the associated parenting stress. Although more researchers are examining fathers' roles and behavior within the family, relatively little is known about how fathers' involvement impacts mothers' parenting stress. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which fathers' instrumental contributions and mothers' perception of fathers' expressive contributions to the family affect…
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Journal Article This study explored first-time fathers' perceived child care skill over the transition to parenthood, based on face-to-face interviews of 152 working-class, dual-earner couples. Analyses examined the associations among fathers' perceived skill and prenatal perception of skill, child care involvement, mothers' breastfeeding, maternal gatekeeping, mothers' work hours, fathers' depressive symptoms, and fathers' beliefs about responding to a crying child. Involvement was also examined as a potential mediator between some predictors and perceived skill. Findings suggest that breastfeeding and…
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Journal Article Although scholars and policy makers herald the promotive influence of fathers' parenting involvement, limited research has carefully delineated effects of fathers' parenting on low-income children's development and whether early contributions from fathers confer long-term protective effects. Using data from the Three-City Study (N = 261), analyses assessed whether fathers' parenting practices during early childhood showed long-term links with low-income children's cognitive skills through middle childhood. Results found that fathers' warm and stimulating parenting predicted enhanced reading…
New York state implemented a pilot employment program from 2006 to 2009 for parents behind in their child support. These pilot programs, part of the Strengthening Families Through Stronger Fathers Initiative, provided employment-oriented services, fatherhood/parenting workshops, case management, and other support services to nearly 4,000 parents behind in their child support in four New York communities. Our evaluation shows that these programs successfully helped participants find work, increase their earnings, and pay more child support. These gains continued for at least a year after…
Brief
New York launched a pilot employment program to help parents behind in their child support in four communities between 2006 and 2009. The program was part of the state's Strengthening Families Through Stronger Fathers Initiative. Our evaluation found that the program's combination of employment assistance, case management, and other support services substantially increased the earnings and child support payments of disadvantaged parents who were not meeting their child support obligations.
Brief
An NRFC team visited the TYRO Champion Dads program of Anthem Strong Families (ASF) in Dallas, Texas on June 28 and 29, 2017 and had the opportunity to talk with program staff, participants, graduates, and community partners. This NRFC Spotlight highlights aspects of the organization’s fatherhood program that may be of interest to other fatherhood practitioners.
Brief
An NRFC team visited the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families and three of their program centers on May 23, 24, and 25, 2017. This NRFC Spotlight highlights aspects of the organization and its programs that may be of interest to other fatherhood practitioners.
Brief
The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) has developed this research brief to help fatherhood practitioners increase their awareness and understanding of the experiences of fathers of children with special needs. The brief explains several of the more common special needs, describes challenges that fathers of children with special needs may face, and provides tips to help fatherhood programs better support these fathers. Because most research on the experience of parents of children with special needs has focused on mothers, we draw from both published research and interviews…
NRFC Quick Statistics and Research Reviews, Brief
This fact sheet provides statistics on age of father at birth of first child by race/ethnicity, educational achievement, father's income, and marital status.
