Data from the Baltimore Parenthood Study, a 30-year longitudinal study of teenage parents, were analyzed to identify the long-term consequences of paternal involvement and the generational transmission of patterns of fatherhood. A subsample of 110 males were examined with an occasional reference made to a subsample of females. Results indicated that a strong link existed between the stable presence of a biological father in the histories of the young men and the timing of their own family formation. Early fatherhood, both during the teen years and early twenties, is much more likely to occur…
Drawing on more than a quarter of a century of Panel Study of Income Dynamics data, this paper examines links between childhood home environment (as reported by fathers during those childhood years) and children's outcomes in early adulthood. The emphasis is on the role of fathers and the unique contribution of their activities and characteristics to children's development, measured in terms of the children's completed schooling, wage rates, and nonmarital childbearing in early adulthood. Results indicate that fathers' abilities add substantial predictive power to models based on maternal…
Designed for policymakers, this fact sheet discusses the characteristics of incarcerated fathers, the impact of a father's incarceration on his ability to pay child support, and strategies that can be implemented to modify child support obligations and to support father-child relationships. Answers to questions concerning incarcerated fathers and relationships with their children are also provided.
The expanding consensus about the advantages of two-parent families, together with the rising number of children growing up without the presence of both parents, has stimulated policy-makers to look for ways of increasing fathers' involvement. This paper examines two sets of questions relevant to these policy initiatives. The first concerns the patterns of involvement between fathers and children born outside of marriage. The paper defines father involvement as a continuum ranging from no visitation, to frequent visitation, to co-residence with the child, and to co-residence along with…
Written for the October 1996 Conference on Father Involvement, the papers in this volume examine the effect of father involvement on child development and the patterns and determinants of father involvement in intact and separated families. The papers represent the diverse perspectives of anthropology, demography, economics, family science, psychology, and sociology. Specific topics include: the history of research about father involvement, cultural factors, the impact of parental activities on child outcomes, child well-being in families receiving welfare, and the effect of marital quality…
This report synthesizes research conducted in Great Britain about the effect of paternal involvement on child development and effective interventions for families in the child welfare system. Recent studies have found that 75 percent of British children are living in two-parent families. Despite a trend in single and step-parenthood, about half of non-resident fathers report that they have regular, monthly contact with their child(ren). Fathers still earn the majority of the family income, but about half of British men disagree with the traditional view of men as the primary breadwinner.…
