Prior research linking family structure with parenting often confounds the effects of family structure with the effects of family instability. In this analysis, I use data from the Fragile Families Study (N= 3107) to answer two main questions: (a) Are there differences in maternal stress and...

Using the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, this paper investigates how income volatility and union stability and transitions influence patterns in Food Stamp Program (FSP) participation among a sample of young families (n=1263). Multinomial logistic regression models suggest that...

This paper analyzes how variation in participant take-up rates affected the impacts of the New Hope project, a random-assignment, anti-poverty program. New Hope offered experimental members four benefits - child care subsidies, wage subsidies, health insurance, and, if needed, a temporary...

Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,162) and the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (N = 1,308), we estimate associations between material and instrumental support available to unwed, low-income mothers and young children‘s...

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study with a cross-lagged longitudinal design to examine how couple relationship quality and parental engagement with children affect one another during the first three years of a child’s life for both married and unmarried parents who...

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

This paper tests the hypothesis that low-income women’s likelihood of choosing abortion will decrease as their access to and participation in social welfare programs increases. Though an affirmative finding could challenge the coherence of a morally and fiscally conservative Republican...

Rates of out-of-wedlock births in the US have increased over the past three decades and rates of cohabitation among unwed parents have risen. Consequently, unwed parenthood is decreasingly synonymous with single parenthood. As we focus more attention on unwed parents, their living arrangements,...

We employ recent longitudinal data on unmarried fathers to compare levels of underground activity among fathers living in cities with differing levels of child support enforcement (CSE). The survey from which the data are drawn is unique in that it directly queries fathers about their...

Many studies estimate the effects of welfare benefits on mothers’ living arrangements while housing costs and subsidies are rarely the focus of study. Housing costs and subsidies affect the affordability and accessibility of housing. This article estimates the effects of housing prices and...