Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Survey, a large birth cohort study, this study analyzes the effect of relationship status on parenting outcomes for 4,322 mothers and 3,400 fathers. To address the problem of omitted variable bias, fixed effects methods are used to control for the presence of time-invariant unobserved characteristics that might otherwise bias estimates. Marriage by itself did not influence the parenting behaviors of mothers or fathers, and there was little effect of relationship status on maternal parenting practices. Parenting did differ across nonstandard arrangements, as fathers who repartner engaged less with their child, and mothers reported cohabiting stepfathers to be more involved in the family’s life than were cohabiting biological fathers.
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Paper provided by Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing. in its series Working Papers with number
918.