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Counting and Serving Never-Married Families

Counting and Serving Never-Married Families. Fall 2007. Presenters:. Minnesota Fathers & Families Network University of Minnesota Extension Family Relations Hosted with support from the regional Minn. Initiative Foundations. University of Minnesota Extension.

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Counting and Serving Never-Married Families

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  1. Counting and Serving Never-MarriedFamilies Fall 2007

  2. Presenters: Minnesota Fathers & Families Network University of Minnesota ExtensionFamily Relations Hosted with support from the regional Minn. Initiative Foundations

  3. University of Minnesota Extension • The major outreach arm of the University of Minnesota • The Family Relations Team offers: • Professional Development • Resources for parents of teens • Parent Education resources • Education for family transition: Parents Forever, We Agree: Creating a Parenting Plan, Padres para siempre www.parenting.umn.edu www.extension.umn.edu

  4. training events • news • educational resources • public policy www.mnfathers.org

  5. Why Fathers Matter Child Well-being PromotingHealthyFatherhood Men’s Development Gender Equity CommunityDevelopment

  6. The Best Part of Being a Dad“cuddling up at nightafter reading a bedtimestory and getting a bighug and ‘I love you,Daddy’ just makes theday worthwhile”

  7. Diane and Kevin • Read Part I of the case study • In groups of three or four discuss the questions at the end • Be prepared to talk about your small group discussion

  8. Your discussion • What strengths do Diane and Kevin have? • What challenges? • What work would you do with Diane and Kevin? • How would you help Kevin as a father?

  9. Setting the Context:Do We Count Fathers Two Different Views of Fatherhood: The Involved Father Fathers in the Shadows

  10. The Involved Father Changes in the Value of Different Fatherhood Roles • Fathers rated as very important • Show love & affection 90% • Provide safety & protection 88% • Provide financial care 73%

  11. The Involved Father • Involvement Activities 0-4 year olds • Daily to 1-2 times a week Holds & comforts child 98% Plays interactive games 96% Sets & enforces rules 95% Helps with dressing, toileting, makes meals & puts to bed 90%

  12. Fathers in the Shadows Paucity of data about numerous groups of men including:

  13. Fathers in the Shadows • Fathers of children born to teen mothers: 27% did not establish paternity • Incarcerated fathers: 4,600 estimated in Minnesota • Education level of fathers is related to fertility rate • Fathers w/college degree = 0.9 children • Fathers without HS diploma = 1.8 children

  14. Fathers in the Shadows Multiple Partner Fertility = 15% of men by age 40. This is likely to increase with the current rate of non-marital births increasing. Young fathers with low education status and two or more households are not able to financially support children in these family structures.

  15. Fathers in the Shadows • Among custodial parents in U.S., 2001 • 31.2% of mothers, never married • 20.3% of fathers, never married • Families with children, percent married • Highest percentage: UT 82.9% • Minnesota 77.4% • National average 72.9% • Lowest percentage: MS 65.5%

  16. Are never-married families visible?

  17. Diane and Kevin, part II • What do you think about Diane and Kevin’s situation after learning this information? • Have your thoughts about their strengths and challenges changed? • How would you change how you would work with Diane and Kevin?

  18. What does research tell us about fathers like Kevin and his family? • New research findings from the Fragile Family and Child Well-Being (FFCW) study. • www.fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/

  19. Fragile Families • Non-married parents raising a child together • Complex families in which one or both parents: • Has responsibility for children with whom they do not live AND/OR • Shares residence with non-biological children

  20. What do you think of the term “fragile”?

  21. Why the FFCW Study? • Researchers looked at the 1997 National Survey of America’s Families • Analyzed longitudinal data • Found that as children with non-married parents grew older, father involvement declined sharply

  22. Headed by well-known and reputable social science researchers • Targets both mothers and fathers • Takes culture into account • Has a high response rate • Answers • What are the conditions and capabilities of unmarried parents, especially fathers? • What is the nature of the relationships between unmarried parents?

  23. Study Design • Started in 1998 • Followed a group of newborns in 20 U.S. cities for five years. • Used mixed methods: • Quantitative: Various questionnaires completed by parents and by trained observers of the child • Qualitative: Interviews with parents with open ended questions on a list of topics

  24. For the Quantitative Study • Sample: 4,898 births • 3,712 to unmarried parents • 1,186 to married parents • Selected randomly from 75 hospitals in 20 cities across the United States

  25. Data Collection • Occurred at four points • New mothers initially interviewed in the hospital and fathers in the hospital or at another location • Mothers and fathers interview by telephone again at the child’s first, third and fifth birthdays • Data from first three points are currently available • Unit of analysis was “focal child.”

  26. Parent interviews focused on: • Mother & father relationship • New partner relationships • Parenting behavior • Marriage attitudes • Child well-being and characteristics • Social support and family relationships • Demographic characteristics, health (mental and physical) • Economic and employment status • Incarceration • Neighborhood characteristics • Program participation

  27. Response Rates For non-marital births • At baseline: 87% of mothers and 75% of eligible fathers (mother had to be interviewed to be eligible) • By year three: 88% of mothersand 65% of eligible fathers continued to participate

  28. For the Qualitative Studies • Baseline in-depth interviews in seven cities with a subset of FFCW participants • Oakland, Austin, Baltimore, Detroit, Newark, Philadelphia, and Richmond • A random sample of 250 non-marital and 75 marital births within three racial groups (Black, Latino & Non-Hispanic White) • Response rates of mothers exceeded 90%, of married or cohabiting fathers exceeded 90%; and of unmarried fathers 75%.

  29. Study Limitations • Births were in urban areas. • Did a much better job of including fathers, but still only reached 76% of unmarried fathers. • Restricted access to adolescent parents by the hospital. Teen mothers and fathers were under-represented.

  30. What can we learn about non-married parents like Diane and Kevin from the FFCW study? At the time of birth, the vast majority of new unmarried parents are committed to one another and have high hopes of raising their child together: • 82% were romantically involved • About 4 out of 5 fathers contributed financially during pregnancy • 3 out of 4 fathers visited the mother in the hospital McLanahan, Garfinkel, Reichman, & Teitler, 2004

  31. Relationship Status of Fragile Families 10% 8% 51% 31% McLanahan et al, 2004.

  32. More encouraging findings at or near the baby’s birth • Stated positive future intentions: • 80% of babies had father’s last name • 80% of fathers planned to contribute financially • 91% of babies had father’s name on the birth certificate • 94% of mothers wanted the father involved McLanahan, Garfinkel, Reichman, & Teitler, 2004

  33. More baseline information • Almost 80% of cohabiting mothers and 82% of fathers intended to marry their partner • More likely to have children with more than one partner • 43% of unmarried mothers have children with at least 2 men while only 15% of married mothers have children with different fathers. McLanahan, Garfinkel, Reichman, & Teitler, 2004

  34. Poverty and Fragile Families • Average incomes: • Mothers $21,500 • Fathers $18,000 • Unmarried parents 2 Xs as likely to live in poverty when compared to married parents • 40% of unmarried parents • 20% of married parents 17% 29% 26% 13%

  35. Capabilities of non-married parents at baseline • Over 40% of mothers and 35% of fathers lacked a high school degree or GED • Risk factors: • 6% of mothers and 12% of father had drug or alcohol problems • 6% of mothers reported some violent or abusive behavior on the part of the father towards her (likely under-reported) McLanahan, Garfinkel, Reichman, & Teitler, 2004

  36. What happens to father involvement in Fragile Families over time?

  37. Fathers’ risk factors in Fragile Families • Study by Waller and Swisher, 2006 • Examined how these 3 risk factors related to relationship status and father involvement over time • Physical abuse • Alcohol and substance use • Incarceration

  38. Prevalence of Father Risk Factors 30% 12% 18% 11%

  39. Physical abuse • Mothers’ reports of ever being cut, bruised or seriously hurt in a fight with the father in the one year follow-up. • 11% reported violence • Does not capture emotional and sexual abuse • Most often-cited reason for ending the couple relationship.

  40. Drug and alcohol use • Reports of both mother and father of fathers’ drug or alcohol use interference with daily life – 17.6% of fathers • Use was not always considered problematic. • Mothers were often involved in drug use as well. • Parents often decided to stay together and work the problems out.

  41. Incarceration • Most common risk factor in the study. • Drug-related offenses • Eroded the mother’s trust in the father and strained the couple relationship. • Most parents believed that seeing the parent incarcerated was not a good thing.

  42. Relationship status 3 years after the birth of the child • Research suggests that romantic relationships mediate father involvement. • Relationship Status was connected to risk factors.

  43. Ending the relationship • Father’s risk factors made couple relationships particularly unstable. • Mother’s reasons for ending relationships • 1st: physical abuse • 2nd: substance use. • Decision often resulted after reaching a “threshold” of negative interactions. • Father involvement was contingent on the quality of the couple’s relationships.

  44. Strategies used in couple relationships • Couples decided to stay together and looked for ways to respond to risk behaviors. • Parallel parenting: parents maintained separate relationships with their children. • Fathers withdrew from the mother and children; for some it helped maintain a sense of control. • Mother used protective gate-keeping.

  45. Parenting Apart The continuum of parenting relationships Cooperative co-parenting Parallel Parenting Conflictual Unengaged

  46. Findings • Fathers with risk factors were less likely to have a romantic relationship with their children’s mothers. • As a result of this poor relationship quality, fathers were less likely to be involved with their children. • Physical abuse was consistently and significantly associated with parents’ relationship status and father involvement.

  47. More findings • Mothers selected out of relationships that they deemed “unhealthy” and monitor ed father’s access to children. • Especially in cases of physical abuse • When fathers tried to stay involved, their efforts often failed. • Drug and alcohol abuse were more common than physical abuse. • Fathers attempts to change behavior were often unsuccessful.

  48. More • Incarceration was the most common risk factor and played an important role in family life: • Not viewed as harmful as physical abuse • Did create problems in terms of losing contact and passive withdrawal

  49. The Best Part of Being a Dad“watching my daughtergrow and develop intoa fine young lady whohas morals, values andrespect for others”

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