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Journal Article We identify multiple predictors of five types of father involvement in 167 low- to moderate-income two-parent Mexican American families with fifth-grade children. Analyses show that fathers' egalitarian gender attitudes and mothers' education are associated with higher levels of father involvement. Fathers are more involved in monitoring and interacting with children when families place more emphasis on family rituals, they are more involved in supervising children when mothers are employed more hours, and they perform more housework when mothers earn more and the family is under economic…
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Marriage has become a major component of the TANF reauthorization debates, as proposals in the Senate, House, and White House have allocated significant resources to marriage promotion activities and related research. Although there is an existing body of research on marriage from fields such as psychology, demography, and child development, research on marriage policy is sparse. In September 2003, the National Poverty Center hosted a conference to synthesize what is known from existing research about marriage policies and family formation issues.This issue of the forum describes two recent…
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Jason DeParle, an award-winning New York Times reporter, discusses his book, American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare. University of Pennsylvania sociologist Kathy Edin and CLASP Policy Director Mark Greenberg join DeParle to discuss the findings of the book. This audio conference is moderated by Jodie Levin-Epstein. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article Involving caregivers in their children's services often is assumed to make the delivery of child-focused services more effective. We examined the relation of caregiver involvement in children's early intervention programs (EIPs) with caregiver-child interaction. Participants were 99 low-income single caregivers whose children ( 40 months old) were enrolled in EIPs that provided opportunities for caregiver involvement. The results confirmed that caregivers who were more engaged with the programs (as rated by program staff) were more likely to demonstrate more responsiveness in interactions…
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Journal Article Although teenage pregnancy is at the center of much current social concern and political debate, the focus tends to be on the young mothers and their children. The lives and parenting experiences of young fathers typically receive less attention from researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. This article presents findings from a qualitative research study of 25 low-income young fathers. Young men were asked questions about their own life experiences and social contexts, their connections with their children and female partners, and the implications these had for sense of self. They were…
The Texas Fragile Families Initiative (TFF) is the only statewide, collaborative demonstration project aimed at increasing the capacity of local organizations to serve "fragile families," defined by the Ford foundation as young, low-income never-married parents and their children. Started in 1999 as a partnership between the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health and the Center for Public Policy Priorities, TFF brought together more than 30 local, state, and national funders to test promising practices in responsible fatherhood in eleven Texas communities.
In January of 2003, the U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded the "Family Connections in Alabama" (FCA) project as a 12-month "Special Improvement Project" (SIP) to pilot marriage education for low-resource parents and to promote family and relationship strength. The Alabama Children's Trust Fund (CTF), in partnership with Auburn University's Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and with the support of the Alabama Department of Human Resources and the Alabama Office of Child…
Other, Brief
Policymakers and researchers alike are debating whether marriage might be an antipoverty strategy for families with children. Some believe that if more parents married, there would be a substantial decrease in poverty. Others suggest that increasing the marriage rate among poor and near-poor parents, while not dramatically reducing poverty, would make a significant dent in the poverty rate for families with children. Still others are highly skeptical of these claims. This issue brief summarizes recent research bearing on the validity of these viewpoints. In particular, it reviews recent…
This fact sheet explores parental employment in low-income families and policies that can support low-income families. Findings from the research reviewed indicates 55% of all children in low-income families have at least one parent who works full-time and year-round; almost half (44%) of low-income parents with no employment reported they were not working because they were taking care of their families; and low-income parents who work are more likely to be employed in service occupations in which the are not only likely to have lower earnings and fewer opportunities for full-time employment…
