Ronald B. Mincy

Parenting as a "Package Deal": Relationships, Fertility, and Nonresident Father Involvement Among Unmarried Parents

Fatherhood has traditionally been viewed as part of a “package deal” in which a father’s relationship with his child is contingent on his relationship with the mother. We evaluate the accuracy of this hypothesis in light of the high rates of multiple-partner fertility among unmarried parents using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a recent longitudinal survey ofnonmarital births in large cities. We examine whether unmarried mothers’ and fathers’ subsequent relationship and parenting transitions are associated with declines in fathers ’ contact with their nonresident biological children. We find that father involvement drops sharply after relationships between unmarried parents end. Mothers’ transitions into new romantic partnerships and new parenting roles are associated with larger declines in involvement than fathers’ transitions. Declines in fathers’ involvement following a mother’s relationship or parenting transition are largest when children are young. We discuss the implications of our results for the well-being ofnonmarital children and the quality of nonmarital relationships faced with high levels of relationship instability and multiple-partner fertiliy.

Beyond Absenteeism: Father Incarceration and Child Development

High rates of incarceration among American men, coupled with high rates of fatherhood among men in prison, have motivated recent research on the effects of parental imprisonment on children’s development. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the relationship between paternal incarceration and developmental outcomes for approximately 3,000 urban children. We estimate cross-sectional and longitudinal regression models that control not only for fathers’ basic demographic characteristics and a rich set of potential confounders, but also for several measures of pre-incarceration child development and family fixed effects. We find significant increases in aggressive behaviors and some evidence of increased attention problems among children whose fathers are incarcerated. The estimated effects of paternal incarceration are stronger than those of other forms of father absence, suggesting that children with incarcerated fathers may require specialized support from caretakers, teachers, and social service providers. The estimated effects are stronger for children who lived with their fathers prior to incarceration but are also significant for children of nonresident fathers, suggesting that incarceration places children at risk through family hardships including and beyond parent-child separation.

The Disparate Racial Neighborhood Impacts of Metropolitan Economic Restructuring

The authors examine the relationship between economic restructuring in a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and 1980-1990 changes in poverty rates in its census tracts. A summary indicator of economic restructuring, encompassing changes in employment/population ratios, shares of manufacturing employment, and shares of MSA manufacturing in a tracts county, is developed to explain why MSA restructuring is particularly distressing for blacks. Most poverty growth in predominantly black census tracts occurred in MSAs with greater restructuring, and each increment of restructuring was significantly associated with the poverty growth there. Black tracts in a central city with, or in a county with, a larger share of the MSAs manufacturing were most vulnerable.

Young Disadvantaged Men: Fathers, Families, Poverty, and Policy

This paper introduces the major themes associated with young disadvantaged men, including low educational achievement, joblessness, out-of-wedlock childbearing, and incarceration. By age 30, between 68 percent and 75 percent of young men with a high school degree or less are fathers (NLSY). Half of them are married when their first child is born and far fewer continue their education post-high school. The paper briefly reviews four major forces that help shape social and economic outcomes for young men who are fathers and for their partners and children: employment and earnings prospects; multiple-partner fertility; incarceration; and finally public policy, especially as it is reflected in the income support system and the child support system. The paper provides brief synopses of volume chapters to appear in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science in 2011. It ends with an exploration of policy solutions to the many challenges facing young disadvantaged men.

Maternal Educational Attainment at Birth Promotes Future Self-Rated Health of White but Not Black Youth: A 15-Year Cohort of a National Sample

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) is essential for maintaining health, and self-rated health (SRH) is not an exception to this rule. This study explored racial differences in the protective effects of maternal educational attainment at birth against poor SRH of the youth 15 years later. Methods: Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), this 15-year longitudinal study followed 1934 youths from birth to age 15. This sample was composed of White (n = 497, 25.7%), and Black (n = 1437, 74.3%) youths. The independent variable was maternal educational attainment at birth. SRH at age 15 was the dependent variable. Family structure was the covariate. Race was the focal moderator. We ran logistic regression models in the pooled sample, as well as stratified models based on race. Results: In the pooled sample, maternal educational attainment and family structure were not predictive of SRH for the youths at age 15. Race interacted with maternal educational attainment, indicating a stronger association between maternal educational attainment at birth on youth SRH for Whites compared to Blacks. In race stratified models, maternal educational attainment at birth was protective against poor SRH for White but not Black youths. Conclusion: White but not Black youths gain less SRH from their maternal educational attainment. Enhancing education attainment may not have identical effects across racial groups. The health status of Blacks may be less responsive to improvements in maternal educational attainment. Policies should go beyond investing in educational attainment by empowering Black families to better use the educational attainment that they gain. Policies and programs should reduce the costs of upward social mobility for minority families.

Falling Further Behind? Child Support Arrears and Fathers’ Labor Force Participation

This study examines how child support arrears affect fathers’ labor force participation. It relies on longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. Findings from analyses of these data suggest that child support arrears result in declines in average weeks worked in the formal labor market in subsequent time periods. These findings are driven by the behaviors of fathers who had relatively high amounts of arrears and no income in the previous year and are mostly robust to tests for selection into no work or low levels of work by fathers. Findings also suggest that arrears obligations that are low relative to income result in increases in the probability that fathers engage in any formal work. Arrears are not statistically significantly related to informal labor force participation. This study highlights both intended and unintended consequences of the growth in arrears under current child support enforcement policies.

Income Support Policies for Low-Income Men and Noncustodial Fathers: Tax and Transfer Programs

Both wages and labor force participation have been declining for young, less-educated men since the mid-1970s. The purpose of this article is to examine how key income-security policy areas—including unemployment insurance, payroll taxes and the Earned Income Tax Credit, and child support enforcement—affect these men. The article concludes with policy recommendations to improve the impact of work-based subsidies on poverty among low-income men. Subsidized jobs in transitional job programs could play a critical role in helping these men to access these subsidies.

Racial Disparities in Men’s Health and the Transition to Marriage Among Unmarried Fathers:

This article uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Survey to examine the association between transitioning to marriage and general health status or serious health problems among low-income men. Beginning with a sample of 3,631 unmarried fathers, the study observes the relationship between their transitions to marriage within 3 years after the birth of their child and their health status 5 years postbirth. The authors also explore if unmarried fathers benefit from marrying mothers who have health insurance. Results indicate that transitions to marriage and transitions to marriage with mothers who have health insurance, are associated with fewer serious health problems. The authors did not observe a significant relationship between transitioning to marriage and general health, likely because the sample comprised men who were young (average age was 26 years) and in very good health.

Effect of Father Engagement on Child Behaviors

Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Survey (FFS), we examine the engagement patterns of fathers and mothers in married and cohabiting households to determine whether father engagement is associated with childhood behaviors independent of the mother’s characteristics and her level of engagement. Engagement activities were measured when the child was 5 years old with a behavioral outcome when the child was 9 years old. We found significant and negative associations between father engagement and children’s behavioral problems, independent of maternal engagement.

We’re Graduating, What’s Next? Relational Contribution to the Educational Attainment of Black Bermudian Adolescent Boys

Guided by ecological and integrative theories of child development, this article examined the associations between multiple systems of influence (school and family) and the educational aspirations of Black Bermudian adolescent boys. This study used qualitative data gleaned from semistructured interviews with students in their senior year at a Bermudian public high school (N = 18, Mage = 18). Findings revealed that family members and teachers encouraged boys to stay committed to school, thereby supporting high school graduation, academic confidence, and educational aspirations for higher education. However, boys had not learned enough about the complicated process of college and fellowship applications to execute their educational goals, leaving them to wonder “what’s next?” This study contributes to our cross-cultural and nuanced understanding of the important role that families and teachers play in the educational lives of Black male adolescents and suggests that interventions targeting families and teachers might promote the educational attainment, and consequent earnings, of Black male students.