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Fragile Families and the Reproduction of Poverty

Author

Listed:
  • Sara McLanahan

    (Public Affairs at Princeton University)

Abstract

In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan warned that nonmarital childbearing and marital dissolution were undermining the progress of African Americans. The author argues that what Moynihan identified as a race-specific problem in the 1960s has now become a class-based phenomena as well. Using data from a new birth cohort study, the author shows that unmarried parents come from much more disadvantaged populations than married parents. The author further argues that nonmarital childbearing reproduces class and racial disparities through its association with partnership instability and multipartnered fertility . These processes increase maternal stress and mental health problems, reduce the quality of mothers' parenting, reduce paternal investments, and ultimately lead to poor outcomes in children. Finally, by spreading fathers' contributions across multiple households, partnership instability and multipartnered fertility undermine the importance of individual fathers' contributions of time and money, which is likely to affect the future marriage expectations of both sons and daughters.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara McLanahan, 2009. "Fragile Families and the Reproduction of Poverty," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 621(1), pages 111-131, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:621:y:2009:i:1:p:111-131
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716208324862
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johnson, Waldo E., 2001. "Paternal involvement among unwed fathers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6-7), pages 513-536.
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    8. Amanda Geller & Irwin Garfinkel & Bruce Western, 2006. "The Effects of Incarceration on Employment and Wages An Analysis of the Fragile Families Survey," Working Papers 932, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
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    11. Reichman, Nancy E. & Teitler, Julien O. & Garfinkel, Irwin & McLanahan, Sara S., 2001. "Fragile Families: sample and design," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4-5), pages 303-326.
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    13. Sharon H. Bzostek & Marcia J. Carlson & Sara S. McLanahan, 2006. "Does Mother Know Best?: A Comparison Of Biological And Social Fathers After A Nonmarital Birth," Working Papers 919, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
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    15. DeKlyen, M. & Brooks-Gunn, J. & McLanahan, S. & Knab, J., 2006. "The mental health of married, cohabiting, and non-coresident parents with infants," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(10), pages 1836-1841.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sehun Oh & Ian Zapcic & Michael G. Vaughn & Christopher P. Salas-Wright & Yeonwoo Kim, 2021. "Housing Instability and Depression among US Mothers Following a Nonmarital Birth," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Maryam Dilmaghani & Vurain Tabvuma, 2022. "Fragile Families in Quebec and the Rest of Canada: A Comparison of Parental Work-Life Balance Satisfaction," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 695-728, April.
    3. Regina S. Baker, 2022. "Ethno-Racial Variation in Single Motherhood Prevalences and Penalties for Child Poverty in the United States, 1995–2018," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 702(1), pages 20-36, July.
    4. Gabriel Brea‐Martinez & Martin Dribe & Maria Stanfors, 2023. "The price of poverty: The association between childhood poverty and adult income and education in Sweden, 1947–2015," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1281-1304, November.
    5. Kathryn Showalter & Susan Yoon & TK Logan, 2023. "The Employment Trajectories of Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(1), pages 58-77, February.

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