This study uses data from 2,309 biological fathers who participated in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) to examine associations between psychosocial characteristics and levels of corporal punishment (CP) toward their 3-year old children over the past month. Results indicate...

At the nexus of changing marital and fertility behavior is a new reality of contemporary family life—the fact that a significant fraction of adults today (will) have biological children by more than one partner, sometimes called ‘multi-partnered fertility.’ In this paper, we use data from...

When parents engage in childbearing with more than one partner or multi-partnered fertility, this gives rise to a complex family system with strong implications for transfers to children. This study therefore seeks to measure the effect of multi-partnered fertility on formal and informal child...

Previous research has found that pregnancy intentions are predictive of some early parental behaviors and infant health outcomes. However, most studies have relied on mothers’ reports of pregnancy intentions and have examined only maternal behaviors which may affect children’s health. This...

We use data from three waves of the Fragile Families Study (N = 2,111) to examine the prevalence and effects of mothers’ partnership changes between birth and age 3 on children’s behavior. We find that children born to unmarried and minority parents experience significantly more partnership...

Low-income families rely on various sources of support, both public and private, to make ends meet. Although doubling up (moving in with relatives or nonkin) is a common source of support, previous research has not examined the economic value of doubling up as part of a family’s income...

Low income men are at particular risk for experiencing adverse health conditions such as depression which may reduce involvement with their children. Low income men may also face significant challenges in becoming and remaining involved with their children over time, as many fathers may cease to...

In this analysis we connect neighborhood conditions to birth outcomes through their intermediate effects on allostatic load. We hypothesize that neighborhood poverty and racial isolation combine to produce unsafe environments which raise allostatic load and thereby increase the likelihood of...

Non-marital childbearing has increased dramatically over the past several decades in both the US and the UK. In 2008, 45 percent of British children were born outside of marriage, up from 8 percent in 1971. A similar trend appears in the US, with 41 percent of births in 2008 occurring to...

Today, 37% of all births are to unmarried mothers (Hamilton, Martin, & Ventura, 2006). This represents a doubling in nonmarital childbearing in the past 25 years. Reducing nonmarital childbearing and promoting marriage among unmarried parents have become major policy concerns because, although...