Marital quality typically declines after the birth of a (first) child, as parenthood brings new identities and responsibilities for mothers and fathers. Yet, it is less clear whether nonmarital, cohabiting relationship quality follows a similar trajectory. This paper uses data from the Fragile...

Married men earn more than unmarried men. Previous research suggests that marriage itself causes some of the difference, but includes few men who fathered children out of wedlock. This paper asks whether increasing marriage (and possibly cohabitation) following a non-marital birth is likely to...

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...

Many studies have explored dynamics within religiously heterogamous marriages, but little is known about religiously heterogamous cohabiting unions. Using data from the Fragile Families Study, this study examines the influence of religious heterogamy on union stability among married and...

Previous research suggests that many men increase their religious involvement after the birth of a new child. This study extends this research by examining whether fathers maintain a higher rate of religious participation as children get older and how fathers’ religiosity may influence...

Qualitative research suggests that economically disadvantaged fathers experience considerable stress due to difficulty fulfilling the breadwinning ideal and workplace inflexibility that ignores their childcare responsibility. Yet, quantitative research on how employment and work-family conflict...

Many studies have explored dynamics within religiously heterogamous marriages, but little is known about religiously heterogamous cohabiting unions. Using data from the Fragile Families Study, this study examines the influence of religious heterogamy on union stability among married and...

Previous research suggests that many men increase their religious involvement after the birth of a new child. This study extends this research by examining whether fathers maintain a higher rate of religious participation as children get older and how fathers’ religiosity may influence...

An increasing body of literature documents considerable disparities in the health and wellbeing of young children in the United States, though maternal depression is one important, yet often overlooked, determinant of children's health. In this paper, I find that maternal depression,...

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examine how the birth outcomes of multiracial infants differ from those of their mono-racial counterparts and the extent to which disparities in birth outcomes are due to variation in socioeconomic background, prenatal health...