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Signing Up New Fathers: Do Paternity Establishment Initiatives Increase Marriage, Parental Investment, and Child Well-Being?

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  • Maya Rossin-Slater

Abstract

With nearly half of US births occurring out of wedlock, understanding how parents navigate their relationship options is important. This paper examines the consequences of a large exogenous change to parental relationship contract options on parental behavior and child well-being. Identification comes from the staggered timing of state reforms that substantially lowered the cost of legal paternity establishment. I show that the resulting increases in paternity establishment are partially driven by reductions in parental marriage. Although unmarried fathers become more involved with their children along some dimensions, the net effects on father involvement and child well-being are negative or zero.

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  • Maya Rossin-Slater, 2017. "Signing Up New Fathers: Do Paternity Establishment Initiatives Increase Marriage, Parental Investment, and Child Well-Being?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 93-130, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:9:y:2017:i:2:p:93-130
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.20150314
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    Cited by:

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    2. Schaubert, Marianna, 2022. "Do courts know how to incentivize? Behavioral response of non-resident parents to child support obligations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Maxim N. Massenkoff & Evan K. Rose, 2022. "Family Formation and Crime," NBER Working Papers 30385, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Monteiro Amaral,Sofia Fernando & Dinarte Diaz,Lelys Ileana & Dominguez,Patricio & Perez-Vincent,Santiago M., 2021. "Helping Families Help Themselves ? Heterogeneous Effects of a Digital Parenting Program," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9850, The World Bank.
    5. Pinka Chatterji & Xiangshi Liu & Barış K. Yörük, 2019. "The effects of the 2010 Affordable Care Act dependent care provision on family structure and public program participation among young adults," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1133-1161, December.
    6. Jeanne Lafortune & Corinne Low, 2023. "Collateralized Marriage," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 252-291, October.
    7. Jeanne Lafortune & Corinne Low, 2017. "Tying the Double-Knot: The Role of Assets in Marriage Commitment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 163-167, May.
    8. Schaubert, Marianna, 2018. "Behavioral Response of Non-Resident Parents to Child Support Obligations: Evidence From SOEP," EconStor Preprints 203675, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    9. Jia Wu & Jiada Lin & Xiao Han, 2023. "Compensation for girls in early childhood and its long-run impact: family investment strategies under rainfall shocks," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1225-1268, July.
    10. Shoshana Grossbard, 2023. "Non-Marital Childbearing and Marital Property Laws: An Application of the WIHO Model," Working Papers 2023-005, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • K36 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Family and Personal Law

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