In this paper I review Daniel Patrick Moynihan's views on employment and young black men in his 1965 report. I then update the evidence on their employment status, and review the causes and policy implications of these trends. Moynihan was extremely prescient in forecasting a "crisis...that would only grow worse." He understood that these trends involve both limits on labor market opportunities that these young men face as well as skill deficits and behavioral responses by the young men themselves. Policies that deal with a wide range of disadvantages and behaviors are needed to reverse these…
The role of noncustodial fathers in the lives of low-income families has received considerable attention from policymakers and programs in recent years. While child support enforcement efforts have increased dramatically in recent years, there is evidence that many low-income fathers cannot afford to support their children financially without impoverishing themselves or their families. To address these complex issues, a number of initiatives have focused on developing services to help low-income fathers become more financially and emotionally involved with their families, and to help young…
Father-child relationships are not static even under the best of circumstances (Belsky, 1984). They require frequent adjustments and adaptations as both father and child change and develop and experience different circumstances, challenges, and resources (Palkovitz, 1987). Other family relationships shift as well, and as a result, fathers and families experience transitions within fathering continuously. Palkovitz & Palm (2005) list a range of triggers for transitions in paternal involvement, including child development, family crisis, individual changes in the father, cohort or…
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Journal Article We identify and discuss mothers' early strategies to recruit nonresidential biological fathers, intimate partners, male family members and friends, and paternal kin to support the needs of young children in low-income families. Using the concept of kinscription and longitudinal ethnographic data on 149 African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White families from Welfare, Children and Families: A Three-City Study, we developed a model of recruitment that includes three related processes: the search for legitimacy with conventional fathers and partners, the consequences of maternal advocacy…
The majority of low-income, unmarried fathers are present at the birth of their child, provided financial and emotional support to the mother during pregnancy and 80% are romantically involved or cohabitating. Mothers report wanting the father involved with their child, even if romantic relationships have ended. This fact sheet proposes 10 ways states can help fathers become actively involved in the lives of their children.
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Journal Article In the context of current concern about levels of marital distress, family violence, and divorce, the SFI study is evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention to facilitate the positive involvement of low-income Mexican American and European American fathers with their children, in part by strengthening the men's relationships with their children's mothers. The study design involves a randomized clinical trial that includes assignment to a 16-week couples group, a 16-week fathers group, or a single-session control group. Couples in both group interventions and the control condition…
