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Paternity Acknowledgment in 2 Million Birth Records from Michigan

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  • Douglas Almond
  • Maya Rossin-Slater

Abstract

Out-of-wedlock childbearing is more common in the U.S. than in other countries and becoming more so. A growing share of such non-marital births identify the father, which can create a legal entitlement to child support. Relatively little is known about individual determinants of the decision to establish paternity, in part because of data limitations. In this paper, we evaluate all birth records in Michigan from 1993 to 2006, which have been merged to the paternity registry. In 2006, 30,231 Michigan children, almost one quarter of all Michigan births, were born to unmarried mothers and had paternity acknowledged. We find that births with paternity acknowledged have worse outcomes along various health and socio-economic dimensions relative to births to married parents, but better outcomes relative to births to unmarried parents without paternity acknowledgement. Furthermore, unmarried men who father sons are significantly more likely to acknowledge paternity than fathers of daughters.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas Almond & Maya Rossin-Slater, 2013. "Paternity Acknowledgment in 2 Million Birth Records from Michigan," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-5, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0070042
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070042
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gordon B. Dahl & Enrico Moretti, 2008. "The Demand for Sons," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(4), pages 1085-1120.
    2. Turner, Mark D., 2001. "Child support enforcement and in-hospital paternity establishment in seven cities," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6-7), pages 557-575.
    3. Karen Guzzo, 2009. "Paternity Establishment for Men’s Nonmarital Births," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 28(6), pages 853-872, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rossin-Slater, Maya & Wüst, Miriam, 2018. "Parental responses to child support obligations: Evidence from administrative data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 183-196.
    2. Ann Bartel & Maya Rossin-Slater & Christopher Ruhm & Jenna Stearns & Jane Waldfogel, 2015. "Paid Family Leave, Fathers’ Leave-Taking, and Leave-Sharing in Dual-Earner Households," NBER Working Papers 21747, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Diogo G. C. Britto & Roberto Hsu Rocha & Paolo Pinotti & Breno Sampaio, 2024. "Small Children, Big Problems: Childbirth and Crime," CESifo Working Paper Series 11083, CESifo.
    4. Anna Raute & Andrea Weber & Galina Zudenkova, 2022. "Can public policy increase paternity acknowledgement? Evidence from earnings-related parental leave," Working Papers 937, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    5. Maxim N. Massenkoff & Evan K. Rose, 2022. "Family Formation and Crime," NBER Working Papers 30385, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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