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Claiming Fatherhood: Race and the Dynamics of Paternal Involvement among Unmarried Men

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Listed:
  • Kathryn Edin

    (John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University)

  • Laura Tach

    (Harvard University)

  • Ronald Mincy

    (Columbia University School of Social Work)

Abstract

In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan argued that the black family was nearing “complete breakdown†due to high rates of out-of-wedlock childbearing. In subsequent decades, nonmarital childbearing rose dramatically for all racial groups and unwed fathers were often portrayed as being absent from their children's lives. The authors examine contemporary nonmarital father involvement using quantitative evidence from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and qualitative evidence from in-depth interviews with 150 unmarried fathers. The authors find that father involvement drops sharply after parents' relationships end, especially when they enter subsequent relationships and have children with new partners. These declines are less dramatic for African American fathers, suggesting that fathers' roles outside of conjugal relationships may be more strongly institutionalized in the black community. The challenges Moynihan described among black families some forty years ago now extend to a significant minority of all American children.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathryn Edin & Laura Tach & Ronald Mincy, 2009. "Claiming Fatherhood: Race and the Dynamics of Paternal Involvement among Unmarried Men," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 621(1), pages 149-177, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:621:y:2009:i:1:p:149-177
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716208325548
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Elizabeth Cooksey & Patricia Craig, 1998. "Parenting from a distance: The effects of paternal characteristics on contact between nonresidential fathers and their children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(2), pages 187-200, May.
    2. Frank Mott, 1990. "When is a father really gone? Paternal—Child contact in father-absent homes," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 27(4), pages 499-517, November.
    3. Sara McLanahan, 2008. "Fragile Families and the Reproduction of Poverty," Working Papers 1016, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    4. repec:pri:crcwel:wp08-04-ff is not listed on IDEAS
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    1. Walsh, Tova B. & Hoffmeister, Michael & Zimmerman, Laura & Pate, David & Davidson, Darryl, 2024. "“I found the power of my presence”: Low income and noncustodial fathers’ experiences and insights from parenting young children through the COVID-19 pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

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