Other
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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Journal Article
This article provides the first individual-level estimates of the change over time in the probability of nonresidence for initially resident fathers in the United States. Drawing on the 1968-1997 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we used discrete-time event history models to compute the probabilities of nonresidence for six 5-year periods. Our sample consists of men (N = 1,388) who are coresident with their biological children at the time of birth. We found that the observed probability of nonresidence doubled over the three decades of the study period, but not linearly. The risk…
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Journal Article
Using data from the June 1980 Current Population Survey, Morgan, Lye, and Condran (1988) reported that families with a daughter have a higher divorce risk than families with a son. They attribute this finding to the higher involvement of fathers in raising a son, which in turn promotes marital stability. We investigate the relation between gender composition of children and parents' divorce risk with cross-national data from the Fertility and Family Survey. These data, which cover 16 European countries, Canada, and the United States, do not support a general hypothesis that sons contribute…
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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)
Teenage childbearing is associated with many adverse consequences for teen mothers, their families, and children. Many of the negative consequences for teen mothers are due to the disadvantaged situations in which many of these girls already lived before having a teen birth. While the disadvantaged backgrounds of most teen mothers account for many of the burdens that these young women shoulder, having a baby during adolescence often restricts economic and educational opportunities, and these disadvantages tend to be passed on to the next generation. Children born to teen mothers are often…
Parents Are Forever leads parents gently, in step-by-step fashion, toward becoming successful coparents after divorce. Based on the grief recovery model, this book tells moms and dads exactly what they need to do to help the children they love cope with changes in their lives. Parents are shown how to have business meetings, how to create a parenting plan, and how to keep their childrens' needs as their first priority while they transition to a new kind of family. (Author abstract)
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Training Materials
This video follows a diverse group of expectant and new dads as they play a vital role in pregnancy, labor, and the birth of their children. The DVD is divided into five easy-to-view sections: 1. Dads are unique - why are dads essential? 2. The Pregnant Father - going to prenatal exams, healthy habits, finances, and taking time off. 3. Labor and Birth - being there, attending to mom's needs, asking questions, being with baby. 4. Emotions - postpartum blues for mom and dad, intimacy. 5. Baby care - benefits of breastfeeding, bonding, signs of illness, SIDS, Shaken Baby Syndrome, coping with…
Other
This video follows a diverse group of expectant and new dads as they play a vital role in pregnancy, labor, and the birth of their children. The DVD is divided into five easy-to-view sections: 1. Dads are unique - why are dads essential? 2. The Pregnant Father - going to prenatal exams, healthy habits, finances, and taking time off. 3. Labor and Birth - being there, attending to mom's needs, asking questions, being with baby. 4. Emotions - postpartum blues for mom and dad, intimacy. 5. Baby care - benefits of breastfeeding, bonding, signs of illness, SIDS, Shaken Baby Syndrome, coping with…
Other
To investigate the family support needs of Iowa citizens, the Iowa Fatherhood, Marriage and Family Supports Advisory Group conducted 25 focus groups involving over 250 adults. This resulting report discusses themes that were prevalent during these focus groups and presents the following recommendations for family support services: (1) lift up the importance of the family; (2) act before a family faces crises and is harmed; (3) improve the relationship skills of all Iowans; (4) bolster families through economic stability and employer support; (5) surround families with a comprehensive array of…
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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…
