Fragile Families and the Reproduction of Poverty

1
Fragile Families and the Reproduction of Poverty

• Sara McLanahan
• Princeton University

2
Moynihans Thesis

• Non-marital childbearing is a mechanism in the
  perpetuation of poverty among Blacks
• Reciprocal causal arrows run between non-marital
  fertility, unemployment, and welfare Tangle
  of pathology
• Critique of Moynihan blaming the victim
• Wilson makes a similar argument 20 years later,
  but gives more weight to unemployment than to
  culture as the root cause

3
Old and New

• Old arguments persist
• Unemployment (not family) is the problem
• Culture (not employment) is the problem
• Causality goes in both directions
• New features
• Non-marital childbearing has increased
• Non-marital childbearing is not a problem
  (Scandinavian model)

4
The Fragile Families Study

• Birth cohort study follows unmarried parents and
  their children from birth includes a comparison
  sample of married parents
• The questions
• What are the capabilities of unmarried parents,
  especially fathers?
• What is the nature of relationships in fragile
  families at birth? How do relationships change
  over time?
• How do parents and children fare?

5
Capabilities

• Low human capital
• Complex families
• Poor health

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Parental Capabilities
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Capabilities, contd
DeKlyen, McLanahan, Brooks-Gunn, Knab (2006)
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Relationships

• High hopes
• High instability

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Attitudes at Birth

• Positive views towards marriage
• High expectations for marriage
• High relationship quality
• High father involvement
• Less positive views
• Acceptance of single motherhood
• Distrust of the opposite sex

10
Parental Relationships
Baseline
Single 18
Cohab 50
Romantic 32
Five-Year
Cohab New Partner 22
Cohab Bio Father 37
Romantic New Partner 8
Romantic Bio Father 3
Single 30
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Bio-Father Involvement (at birth)
12
Bio-father Involvement at age Five
NR Nonresident Father
13
How well do parents fare?
14
Household Income
15
Mental Health Problems
16
Multipartnered fertility and perceived support
MPF multipartnered fertility
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How well do children fare?

• Partnership changes are associated with
  childrens behavior problems
• Effects are small but accumulate over time
• Living with a stable single mom is also
  associated with behavior problems
• Maternal stress and low parenting quality mediate
  these associations

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Moynihan Revisited

• Non-marital childbearing is a mechanism in the
  reproduction of poverty
• The concurrence of fertility and marital search
  leads to partnership instability and
  multi-partnered fertility which, in turn, lead
  to
• Reductions in maternal resources (income, health,
  social support)
• Reductions in bio father-investments in children
• The process lowers expectations about the
  importance of fathers and is therefore
  self-reinforcing