Background: In today's fast-paced world, the complexity of family relations is growing. This demands a closer look into the effects of parental marital relationships and parents' involvement on children's literacy outcomes. Objective: The study objective was to examine the connections between parental marital status, parental involvement, and…

Parents with dependent children were nearly one quarter of students enrolled for credit at American postsecondary institutions in 2008. These students face significant challenges to remaining enrolled and graduating, including limited access to affordable child care, difficulty balancing the demands of school with the demands of work and family,…

Although researchers argue that single parents perceive more work-family conflict than married parents, little research has examined nuances in such differences. Using data from the 2002 National Study of Changing Workforce (N = 1,430), this study examines differences in home-to-job conflict by marital status and gender among employed parents.…

Research on nonmarital fertility has focused almost exclusively on unmarried mothers, due in part to a lack of fertility information for men. Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth allows exploration of nonmarital fertility for both genders.The authors compare the characteristics of unmarried first-time mothers (n = 2,455) and fathers (n…

Promoting marriage, especially among low-income single mothers with children, is increasingly viewed as a promising public policy strategy for improving developmental outcomes for disadvantaged children. Previous research suggests, however, that children's academic achievement either does not improve or declines when single mothers marry. In this…

Nonmarital coparents, or adults who assist mothers with childrearing, play a significant role in the lives of African American single mothers and their children. Yet relatively little research has examined correlates of the quality of the coparenting relationship in these families. Using a broad ecological framework, the current study examined…

Jane Waldfogel, Terry-Ann Craigie, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn review recent studies that use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) to examine why children who grow up in single-mother and cohabiting families fare worse than children born into married-couple households. They also present findings from their own new research.…

Parenting confidence can be undermined by the presence of frequent or persistent health problems, particularly for people living in rural communities that have limited access to adequate health care. However, little is known about how minor health problems in the family impact parenting. The current study examined single and coresident mothers'…

This study examines the effects of changes in family structure on children's economic well-being. An initial shift-share analysis indicates that, had the proportion of children living in female-headed families remained constant since 1970, the 1998 child poverty rate would have been 4.4 percentage points lower than its actual 1998 level of 18.3…

Data from 520 British secondary school age children were used to explore determinants of and mental health outcomes (measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) from their non-resident fathers' relationships (child-reported father's involvement and frequency of contact) with them. Frequency of contact was negatively related to time…

The Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Ways and Means asked the General Accounting Office for information on who is currently receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and whether the characteristics of this population have changed in recent years. This report presents information on changes in the…

The living arrangements of American children have been strongly affected by revolutionary social changes in the past 30 years, including a large decrease in first-marriage rates and an increase in divorce. Each year more than one million children are affected by divorce. Statistics on divorce and social trends are presented. (SLD)

This report summarizes the current status and trends in nonmarital childbearing in the United States, and presents a series of supplemental papers by experts from social science disciplines. "Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States" (Kristin A. Moore) introduces the topic, indicating that nearly a third of all births in the country…

Effects of divorce on children are reviewed, acknowledging two contradictory trends. On one hand, it is increasingly recognized that the intact biological parent family offers many advantages. On the other hand, there is increasing acceptance that divorce can be better than having parents stay together for their children's sake. (SLD)

Much of the discussion surrounding marriage promotion policies have little basis in the reality of life in low-income communities. Research suggests that much of the income differential between low-income and middle class women is the result of differences in educational attainment, labor market experience, and access to labor supply rather than…