Health status and behaviors of unwed fathers

This article focuses on the well-being and capacities of 1759 new fathers in seven cities using data from the Fragile Families Study. Comparisons are made between married (N=478) and unmarried fathers (N=1281). With the unwed fathers, we compare those who are cohabiting, who are stably romantically involved but not cohabiting, who are involved in an unstable romantic relationship, who are not romantically involved but friends, and who have no relationship with the mother. The six indicators of fathers' well-being capacities include physical health, depressive symptoms, drug and alcohol use, smoking, and physical abuse of the mother. These findings show that married fathers are more advantaged than unwed fathers vis-à-vis education, income, and age; they also are in better physical and mental health. Among the unwed fathers, those who are cohabiting are more advantaged and healthier than those who are not cohabiting, although the differences are not as great as those between married and unmarried fathers. Non-resident fathers who are romantically involved are similar in income, age and education to fathers who are not romantically involved but are friends, although the former are less likely than the latter to be using drugs, to be depressed or to have hit or slapped the mother. The fathers who are romantically involved in an unstable (i.e., off-and-on) relationship are less healthy than those in a more sustained romantic or cohabiting relationship. The fathers who have no relationship with the mother are most likely to exhibit unhealthy behaviors. About two percent of the married fathers, 3% of the unmarried cohabiting and stably romantically involved, 5% of the unstably romantically involved, 7% of the friends, and 11% of those with no relationship had hit or slapped the mother as reported by her. About one-half of the married fathers, a little over a third of the unwed fathers who are cohabiting, stably romantically involved or unstably romantically involved or friends, and only one-sixth of the fathers with no relationship have none of the six behaviors. In contrast, one-fifth of the unwed fathers with no relationship and one-eighth of the unstably romantically involved fathers have three or more of the six risky behaviors, as compared to one-tenth of the unwed fathers with involvement and 3% of the married fathers. Implications for welfare reform and child support are discussed.     

Accounting for Patterns of Father Involvement: Age of Child, Father-Child Coresidence, and Father Role Salience

This study examines the extent to which fathers are involved in parenting their children under several conditions, using a multivariate regression model. The model includes the age of the child, father role salience, and the father and child's coresidential status as predictors of father involvement. Although nonresidential fathers tend to be less involved than residential fathers under most conditions, this is not the case for fathers of adolescents who find the father role to be at least moderately salient. Explanations for their greater involvement are proposed, focusing specifically on the unique characteristics of the parent-child relationship involving an adolescent child and a nonresidential parent.     

Paternal dimensions and complexities: Understanding the relationships between parental dyads and fathers’ involvement among Black fathers with criminal records

ABSTRACT

The benefits of fathers’ involvement in their children’s lives are well documented. However, the effect of incarceration, especially among Black families, has contributed to disbanded family bonds. Spells of incarceration disrupt family relationships and having a criminal record, results in formerly incarcerated men being jobless and unable to financially contribute to their families. Fatherhood encompasses more than being the sole household income earner and father involvement is complex, particularly, within contemporary family structures (Jones & Mosher, 2013). Incarceration, especially, among Black fathers has been associated with family dissolution and reduced financial wellbeing (Oliver, 2001; Roberts, 2004; Western & Wildemann, 2009).This study analyzed factors associated with fathers’ involvement with their children among Black fathers with criminal records. Fathers’ involvement was conceptualized using Lamb, Pleck, and Levine’s (1985) Threefold Typology, which included fathers’ level of engagement, accessibility, and responsibility with their children. These three components of father involvement were the dependent variables. This study utilized secondary analysis of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) or “Fragile Families” study. Among Black fathers with criminal records, this study explored relationships among fathers’ involvement, sociodemographic characteristics, and parental dyads. This study found variations among factors associated with three dimensions of father involvement.     

Does Adherence to Masculine Norms Shape Fathering Behavior?

Research suggests that many fathers struggle balancing hegemonic masculine norms with new fatherhood ideals. This study uses data on 2,194 fathers from a national study on fathers of children aged 2 to 18 and incorporates a comprehensive assessment of masculine norms to examine whether adherence to masculine norms is associated with father involvement and whether this relationship is mediated by fathers' adherence to the new fatherhood ideal that promotes engaged, nurturing parenting. Results suggest that fathers who more closely adhere to masculine norms are less involved in instrumental and expressive parenting and are more likely to engage in harsh discipline than fathers who are less masculine. Adherence to masculine norms also reduces the likelihood of embracing the new fatherhood ideal, and adherence to the new fatherhood ideal at least partially mediates the relationship between masculinity and father involvement. Overall, despite changing expectations for fathers, hegemonic masculine norms continue to shape fathers' behavior.     

Welfare,child support and family formation

This article provides preliminary tests of the hypothesis that welfare and child support policies designed to accommodate the needs of women (and children) impoverished by fathers who discontinue financial support of children following marital dissolution, have adverse effects on family formation among young unwed parents who were poor even before their children were born. The tests are preliminary because there is too little variation among our policy variables to control for selection. We derive a generalized logit model of the mother' planned and actual family formation outcomes, allowing for her to choose no father involvement, father involvement, co-habitation, and marriage. We estimate this model using baseline data (seven cities) of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. The results indicate that more generous welfare benefits and aggressive child support enforcement, increase the odds that disadvantaged unwed mothers' will move from to more stable planned and actual family formation (father involvement, co-habitation, marriage) with the fathers of their children. Besides the effects of these direct policy variables, the fathers employment status, which could also be influenced by policy, also has a large, positive effect on mothers' planned and actual family formation.     

Resident Fathers’ Pregnancy Intentions,Prenatal Behaviors,and Links to Involvement With Infants

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Birth Cohort, 9‐month resident father surveys (N= 6,816), this paper examines the association between male pregnancy intentions, prenatal behaviors, and postbirth father involvement. Findings indicate that prenatal behaviors are associated with five domains of father involvement. Men who did not want the pregnancy are less likely to exhibit paternal warmth following the birth, whereas men who wanted the pregnancy sooner than it occurred are more likely to exhibit nurturing behaviors. The influence of fathers’ pregnancy intentions and prenatal behaviors on postbirth involvement is for the most part not dependent on child gender. Findings suggest that prenatal programs that encourage fathers to actively participate in the pregnancy may be beneficial to later child well‐being.     

Nonstandard parental employment schedules and father involvement

This study assesses the impact of nonstandard employment schedules (shift work) on parenting among US fathers of young children in dual-earner couples. The outcomes examined include total caregiving, caregiving without the mother present, and the elements of father involvement proposed by Pleck: positive engagement, warmth, and control. Models with latent variables and with lagged dependent variables are estimated using three waves of nationally representative data from the Early Child Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort. The results indicate that employment scheduling mainly shapes the context in which involvement takes place. Compared to dual-earner couples who are each employed during the day, fathers in couples in which at least one parent has a nonstandard schedule tend to care for their children more in the mother's absence. To a more limited extent, they also do more caregiving overall. These effects are most conclusively found when the father works during the day and the mother works during the evening, when the mother works during the day but the father works a night, split, rotating, or other shift, and when both parents have nonstandard schedules. Parental work schedules, however, have little impact on father involvement aside from care.     

The Influence of Religion on Fathers' Relationships With Their Children

This study explores how aspects of a father's religiousness are related to the type and quality of involvement with his children. Factors that potentially confound or explain the connection between religiousness and fathering are also examined. Multiple measures of religiousness and father–child ties are considered in a series of bivariate and multivariate regression models. The sample of 810 fathers comes from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS). Results indicate that religious fathers are more involved fathers and that they report higher quality relationships; this is true for both married and divorced fathers. The greater involvement of religious fathers is explained only in part by demographic factors and the mediating influences of traditional attitudes and marital quality.     

Longitudinal Patterns of Nonresident Fathers’ Involvement: The Role of Resources and Relations

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examined patterns of nonresident father involvement 1 and 3 years after a nonmarital birth (N = 893). Cluster analyses were used to determine patterns of involvement across different father behaviors. About half of fathers displayed low involvement when children were 1 and 3 years old, one fourth of fathers maintained high involvement, and equal remaining proportions increased or decreased involvement over time. Multinomial logistic analyses indicated that better relationships between parents were associated with consistently high versus low involvement. Better relationships with each others’ extended family also predicted remaining highly involved and increasing involvement over time. Parents’ romantic relationship status was closely associated with patterns of involvement.     

Depressive Symptoms and Father Involvement in Canada: Evidence from a National Study

Paternal involvement in instrumental and emotional parenting behaviours benefits families and children. While fathers have become more involved in childrearing over the past several decades, significant variability in paternal involvement with children remains. Yet, little work has focused on the facilitators and barriers to involved fathering and work in the Canadian context is particularly sparse. This study focuses on one potentially important factor, depressive symptoms, and its relationship with multiple dimensions of father involvement among Canadian men. Using national quantitative data from the Survey of Canadian Fathers‐Enquête des Pères Canadiens (n = 2,099) and ordinary least squares regression models, we focus on the relationship between depressive symptoms and six measures of fathering behavior. Results indicate that depression is significantly associated with most behaviours, but these results diverge from studies in other countries and contexts. Overall, our findings underscore the importance of context‐specific studies on parenting and the need for additional work on fathering and mental health in Canada.     

Fathers and youths’ delinquent behavior

This paper analyzes the relationship between having one or more father figures and the likelihood that young people engage in delinquent behavior. We pay particular attention to distinguishing the roles of residential and non-residential, biological fathers as well as stepfathers. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we find that adolescent boys engage in more delinquent behavior if there is no father figure in their lives. However, adolescent girls’ behavior is largely independent of the presence (or absence) of their fathers. The strong effect of family structure is not explained by the lack of paternal involvement that generally comes with fathers’ absence, even though adolescents, especially boys, who spend time doing things with their fathers usually have better outcomes. There is also a link between adult delinquent behavior and adolescent family structure that cannot be explained by fathers’ involvement with their adolescent sons and is only partially explained by fathers’ involvement with their adolescent daughters. Finally, the strong link between adolescent family structure and delinquent behavior is not accounted for by the income differentials associated with fathers’ absence. Our results suggest that the presence of a father figure during adolescence is likely to have protective effects, particularly for males, in both adolescence and young adulthood.     

Adolescents With Nonresident Fathers: Are Daughters More Disadvantaged Than Sons?

This study examined sons' and daughters' involvement with nonresident fathers and associated outcomes (N = 4,663). Results indicated that sons and daughters reported equal involvement with nonresident fathers on most measures of father investment, although sons reported more overnight visits, sports, and movies and feeling closer to their fathers compared to daughters. Sons and daughters generally benefited from nonresident father involvement in the same way in internalizing and externalizing problems and grades. Feeling close to one's nonresident father, however, was associated with lower internalizing problems for daughters than sons. These findings suggest that nonresident fathers should be encouraged to be equally involved with their sons and daughters, as such involvement was associated with higher levels of well‐being for both sons and daughters.     

Maternal Relationships and Nonresidential Father Visitation of Children Born Outside of Marriage

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 781), I examined how father visitation for children born outside of marriage is affected by subsequent maternal relationship formation, focusing on the timing, type, and stability of maternal relationships. Results showed that fathers were most likely to have not seen their child at all when mothers formed a new relationship early in the child's life, especially if the new relationship was coresidential and the partner engaged in activities with the child. Fathers who initially visited their child were more likely to stop visiting their child if an initially unpartnered mother became partnered. Frequency of visitation was not as strongly affected as whether visitation occurred at all.     

Explaining fathers' involvement in childcare: an ecological approach

The study was conducted among a sample of 113 Israeli fathers, and aimed to examine the variables that explain paternal involvement in care of children between the ages of one and six. Based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological approach, the study examined the contribution of variables representing three ecological systems of the fathers: the ontogenic system – the fathers' background variables, and their childhood experiences with paternal involvement; the microsystem – children’s characteristics (age and temperament); and mothers' characteristics (education, hours of work outside of the home, and fathers' assessments of maternal gatekeeping); and the macrosystem – type of community of residence (rural or urban). Maternal gatekeeping most significantly explained paternal involvement in most of the domains of childcare that were examined. Fathers living in urban communities who assessed their wives' maternal gatekeeping as high tended to be more involved in the domain of physical care than their counterparts living in rural communities. The child’s temperament explained paternal involvement in the domains of showing love and playing with the children, whereas the fathers' childhood experiences with paternal involvement were related to their involvement in the domain of physical care. The implications of the findings for families and communities are discussed.     

Adolescent fathers involved with child protection: social workers speak

This study examined adolescent paternity through structured interviews with their social workers. It adds to the literature by exploring if there were young men involved with the child protection services (CPS) system who are fathers, identifying their unique needs, and beginning discussions on working with these young men. CPS social workers from six area offices and one juvenile detention facility completed surveys for each father on their caseload. A 3.5% rate of adolescent paternity was observed across these offices. Information about the nature of the young men's involvement with CPS, their involvement with their children, and their unique needs as fathers are provided. This paper also identifies some practice and policy implications for adolescent fathers and CPS charged with their care.     

Fatherhood: Comparison Between Divorced Custodial Fathers,Married Fathers,and Divorced Non-Custodial Fathers in Israel

Paternal involvement and acceptance were compared among 218 custodial fathers, 222 married fathers, and 105 divorced noncustodial fathers. Findings show that the custodial fathers were more involved with their children, coordinated less with their children’s mother, and viewed their children as more difficult than the other fathers. Two regression analyses were conducted. One revealed that greater paternal involvement was predicted by greater self-differentiation, greater sense of having received care from one’s own father, and a less avoidant caregiving disposition. The other showed that greater paternal acceptance was predicted by greater self-differentiation, greater sense of having received care from one’s own father, and a less anxious caregiving disposition. Finally, the findings show that coparenting, social support, and sense of the child as difficult moderated the associations between the fathers’ personal variables and their involvement, but not their acceptance.     

Workplace support of fathers’ parental leave use in Norway

ABSTRACT

This article highlights the importance of social policy and working life contexts for employed fathers’ use of parental leave. It directs attention towards the Norwegian model, which is known for its gender equality aims and welfare-state support to families, but which is also active in the regulation of working life. Based on interviews with fathers who have used the father’s quota (a statutory, earmarked, non-transferable leave), findings run counter to work–family research where gendered assumptions in work organizations are found to prevent active fathering. The interviewed fathers report positive attitudes and supportive practices among employers. Fathers’ stories show that their use of the leave is subject to cooperation and compromising processes at the workplace level that research on fatherhood and organizations have hardly addressed.     

Fathers matter: involving and engaging fathers in the child welfare system process

Research suggests that children with involved and engaged fathers tend to have more positive outcomes relative to physical, cognitive, and social emotional health. Of children who become involved in the child welfare system, involving multiple parents in the case (e.g. mother and father) often results in a greater chance of a child returning home, fewer placement episodes, and reduced trauma that may be caused by separation anxiety. With the rise of single parenting homes (which are mostly maternal) in the United States, child welfare agencies are examining the efficacy of engaging multiple caregivers (esp. fathers) in the child welfare process. Research suggests that in order to involve fathers in child welfare processes, practices and policies must be intentional in implementing systems and protocols that encourage involvement of all parents regardless of relationship status of the parents. However, few child welfare agencies are required to inquire about fathers or involve fathers in the child’s case. The purpose of this paper is to highlight efforts of the Connecticut Comprehensive Outcome Review (CCOR) process and discuss challenges and lessons learned from interviews and listening forums/focus groups that included social workers and fathers who are involved in the child welfare system in the state of Connecticut. Recommendations and considerations on engaging and involving fathers are discussed.     

Father Involvement and Regularity of Child Support in Post-Divorce Families

The study examined the relationship between 20 divorced, non-custodial fathers and their children from the perspective of both the mother and the father. Results indicated parental agreement over the perceived consistency of child support but disagreement over the amount of influence the fathers had in the area of finanical affairs. Mothers who did not receive child support on a consistent basis considered a father's influence to be of fathers perceived changes between the father pre-and post-divorce influence with the exception of influence over financial decisions. Overall the results of the study indicate that divorced fathers are not necessarily absent parents and that both mothers and fathers consider post-divorce father involvement desirable.     

Ambivalence Toward Adult Children: Differences Between Mothers and Fathers

The authors examined how ambivalence toward adult children within the same family differs between mothers and fathers and whether patterns of maternal and paternal ambivalence can be explained by the same set of predictors. Using data collected in the Within‐Family Differences Study, they compared older married mothers' and fathers' (N = 129) assessments of ambivalence toward each of their adult children (N = 444). Fathers reported higher levels of ambivalence overall. Both mothers and fathers reported lower ambivalence toward children who were married, better educated, and who they perceived to hold similar values; however, the effects of marital status and education were more pronounced for fathers, whereas the effect of children's value congruence was more pronounced for mothers. Fathers reported lower ambivalence toward daughters than sons, whereas mothers reported less ambivalence toward sons than daughters.