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Journal Article Paternity and child support can be essential to the family stability of children of unmarried teen mothers. While the number of births to teen mothers decreased between 1970 and 1985 from 656,000 to 477,700, the number of unmarried teen mothers increased from 199,900 to 280,300. This paper presents guidelines for counselors to assist young mothers. Establishing paternity is essential for the emotional health of the child, providing a sense of belonging and family ties with the father's family. Child support is important, even at a minimum if the father is unemployed, to establish a pattern…
This report explores the circumstances and opinions of 71 parents who were interviewed to help inform a project aimed at increasing the employment and earnings of disadvantaged fathers, and child support payments made by them. That project, the Parents' Fair Share Demonstration (PFS), tackles a social problem that is crucially linked to child poverty in the United States: the failure of noncustodial parents -- most of whom are fathers -- to contribute financially to their children's support. Through a unique combination of job training, personal support, and incentives, Parents' Fair Share…