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Formerly Incarcerated Parents and Their Children

Author

Listed:
  • Bruce Western

    (Harvard University)

  • Natalie Smith

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

The negative effects of incarceration on child well-being are often linked to the economic insecurity of formerly incarcerated parents. Researchers caution, however, that the effects of parental incarceration may be small in the presence of multiple-partner fertility and other family complexity. Despite these claims, few studies have directly observed either economic insecurity or the full extent of family complexity. We study parent-child relationships with a unique data set that includes detailed information about economic insecurity and family complexity among parents just released from prison. We find that stable private housing, more than income, is associated with close and regular contact between parents and children. Formerly incarcerated parents see their children less regularly in contexts of multiple-partner fertility and in the absence of supportive family relationships. Significant housing and family effects are estimated even after we control for drug use and crime, which are themselves negatively related to parental contact. The findings point to the constraints of material insecurity and the complexity of family relationships on the contact between formerly incarcerated parents and their children.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruce Western & Natalie Smith, 2018. "Formerly Incarcerated Parents and Their Children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(3), pages 823-847, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:55:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s13524-018-0677-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-018-0677-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Leamer, Edward E, 1983. "Let's Take the Con Out of Econometrics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(1), pages 31-43, March.
    2. Christopher Wildeman, 2009. "Parental imprisonment, the prison boom, and the concentration of childhood disadvantage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(2), pages 265-280, May.
    3. Maria Cancian & Yiyoon Chung & Daniel R. Meyer, 2016. "Fathers’ Imprisonment and Mothers’ Multiple-Partner Fertility," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 2045-2074, December.
    4. Amanda Geller & Irwin Garfinkel & Bruce Western, 2011. "Paternal Incarceration and Support for Children in Fragile Families," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(1), pages 25-47, February.
    5. Laura Tach & Ronald Mincy & Kathryn Edin, 2010. "Parenting as A “package deal”: Relationships, fertility, and nonresident father involvement among unmarried parents," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(1), pages 181-204, February.
    6. Christopher Wildeman & Kristin Turney, 2014. "Positive, Negative, or Null? The Effects of Maternal Incarceration on Children’s Behavioral Problems," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 1041-1068, June.
    7. Amanda Geller & Carey Cooper & Irwin Garfinkel & Ofira Schwartz-Soicher & Ronald Mincy, 2012. "Beyond Absenteeism: Father Incarceration and Child Development," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(1), pages 49-76, February.
    8. Lenna Nepomnyaschy, 2007. "Child support and father-child contact: Testing reciprocal pathways," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(1), pages 93-112, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marguerite Burns & Laura Dague, 2023. "In-Kind Welfare Benefits and Reincarceration Risk: Evidence from Medicaid," NBER Working Papers 31394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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