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Journal Article The Family Support Act of 1988 and the 1996 welfare reform act recognized the need to help low-income fathers stay involved with their families, financially as well as emotionally. The laws required states to offer AFDC assistance to two parent families in which the primary wage earner was not employed. They also encouraged states to establish education, employment, and training assistance to noncustodial fathers of low income children so that they could obtain the level of employment needed to fulfill child support obligations. Reform policies have also tried to amend state practices…
Brief
The rise in single parenthood in the U.S. is well-known. Today, nearly a third of all children born in the United States are born to unmarried parents; the proportions are even higher among poor and minority populations--40 percent among Hispanics and 70 percent among African Americans. Yet, we know very little about these families, particularly about the fathers. Consequently, much of what we read in the newspapers or hear on television about unwed parents is based on anecdotal rather than scientific evidence. This policy brief is intended to dispel three common myths about unwed fathers and…