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The inaugural White House Community Roundtable and Town Hall Meeting on Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families was held in Chicago, IL, on August 5, 2009. The event was the first in a series of locally focused meetings designed to highlight the importance of fatherhood in communities across the nation. It provided a forum for responsible fatherhood program representatives, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers at the Federal, State, and local levels to discuss the successes and challenges faced by fathers and responsible fatherhood programs. (Author abstract)
Low-income fathers should be a part of the family policy equation. Men are able to financially contribute to their children's well-being and help lift them out of poverty in the short term. They also provide care and emotional supports that can improve children's life outcomes and help break the cycle of poverty in the long term. Unfortunately, far too many low-income men, and especially men of color, face barriers to playing these roles in their children's lives. They are disproportionately disconnected from some extremely vital domains, and that harms them, their children, and families more…
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Journal Article The article discusses the answers on questions posed regarding public policy toward fathers with low income in the child support program. It states that the federal government must aim for additional funding to programs designed for the employment of low-income fathers in the child support programs that would increase employment and decrease poverty among low-earning fathers and their children. It notes that making programs mandatory and voluntary will be beneficial to low-earning fathers in the child support program. It mentions that said programs may include services like case management,…
Brief
A large percentage of poor children live with just one parent, usually their mother, and single-parent families are more vulnerable to economic downturns than are two-parent families. Living arrangements also affect the optimal design of policies related to income support and child support. In this paper we briefly review changes in family structure and the relationship between family structure and employment, and then focus on policies that are essential to reducing poverty in the context of the current work-based safety net, in which low-income families with children rely increasingly on…
Family Structure and the Economic Mobility of Children explores the relationship between parental marital status and intergenerational economic mobility. Co-authored by Thomas DeLeire of the University of Wisconsin and Leonard M. Lopoo of Syracuse University, the report compares the economic mobility outcomes for children who were born to single mothers, divorced parents, and continuously married parents. It finds that, across the income distribution, divorce is particularly harmful for children's economic mobility in both absolute and relative terms. The report also highlights the striking…
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Journal Article This study examined the association between paternal and maternal employment changes and changes in the frequency of fathers praising, showing affection, disciplining, and reading to children. Data were drawn from the Young Adult supplement to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979). Supporting economic theory, fathers were more involved when they and their partner were employed full time and were less involved when their employment exceeded that of their partner. Although fathers tended to be less involved when they worked less, fathers who held traditional gender role attitudes…
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Journal Article Young, minority, and poorly educated fathers in fragile families have little capacity to support their children financially and are hard-pressed to maintain stability in raising those children. In this article, Robert Lerman examines the capabilities and contributions of unwed fathers, how their capabilities and contributions fall short of those of married fathers, how those capabilities and contributions differ by the kind of relationship the fathers have with their child's mother, and how they change as infants grow into toddlers and kindergartners.Unwed fathers' employment and earnings…
This Tip Sheet is for relationship education service providers. It provides information on how to successfully introduce and incorporate marriage and relationship education (MRE) program into a company's EAP. An EAP is a logical partner for MRE programs. EAPs have an established delivery mechanism for reaching employers and their employees. However, most EAPs are not looking for this type of service. EAPs likely will not know about the impact of relational wellness in the workplace. It will be your job to educate them in this area and to recommend your services to them. This tip sheet will…
Just as little gestures and quick compliments can have a tremendous positive influence on a child's life, so too can small actions bring about a significant impact on household expenses and the environment we share with our children. You don't need to make dramatic adjustments in your day-to-day behavior to see results. By starting with easy-to-do changes at home, you have the opportunity to keep more money in your pocket -- or spend some of your savings on a fun activity with your kids -- while you help protect the quality of the environment we'll leave to the next generation. (Author…
This chapter addresses the reentry challenges faced by low-skilled men released from U.S. prisons. I empirically characterize the increases in incarceration occurring since 1970 and assess the degree to which these changes result from changes in policy as opposed to changes in criminal behavior. I discuss what is known about the children of inmates and the likelihood that a child in the United States has an incarcerated parent. The chapter then addresses the employment barriers faced by former prison inmates with a particular emphasis on how employers view criminal history records in…