Research suggests that children from low-income families are more likely to exhibit behavioral problems than children from wealthier families and these adverse behaviors have long-term detrimental effects on academic outcomes, health and earnings. In this paper, we examine the relationship...

While an extensive literature has shown that family structure is linked with child wellbeing, less well understood is how the dynamics within similar types of families affect children. Family systems theory posits that parents’ couple relationship is important for promoting children’s...

Non-cognitive skills in childhood and adolescence are associated with a host of outcomes in adulthood, including educational and occupational attainment. One explanation for these associations is that poor non-cognitive skills in early childhood interfere with the development of cognitive skills...

Past studies of the informal economy in the US focused on small geographic areas and select populations. This paper uses a nationally representative panel survey of urban parents, the largest and most diverse data yet, to describe the nature of informal work in the United States. Informal work...

This paper investigates to what extent stable and unstable three-generation family households (grandparent, parent and child) are associated with child socioemotional, cognitive and health outcomes over the first three years of a child’s life. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families...

Theories of family functioning suggest that childbearing with multiple partners may increase parenting stress due to changes in social and economic resources and the challenges associated with parenting across multiple households. These family processes may not be equally stressful for mothers...

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study this paper examines associations between family structure and economic trajectories during the first five years after a child’s birth, paying special attention to non-traditional families. Among families with stable structures,...

This paper uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the association between multi-partnered fertility (MPF) when parents have children with more than one partner and parents‘ mental health, including Major Depressive Disorder, heavy episodic drinking, and...

Little research looks at the relationship between macroeconomic indicators and material hardship. High unemployment rates as a result of economic downturns are likely to lead to lost income, increased poverty, and material hardship. We examine the effect of the unemployment rate on hardship –...

Theoretical perspectives suggest a strong link between maternal mental health and parenting, which may facilitate the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage from depressed mothers to their children. In this paper, I extend prior research by using data from the Fragile Families and Child...