IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v635y2011i1p95-116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Low-Income Fathers’ Influence on Children

Author

Listed:
  • Marcia J. Carlson

    (Center for Demography and Ecology and the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Katherine A. Magnuson

    (Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Abstract

This article examines what we know about how low-income fathers matter for children. The authors first provide a theoretical background about how parents generally (and fathers more specifically) are expected to influence children’s development and well-being. The authors note the importance of considering differences across children’s age, gender, and race/ethnicity; and they identify key methodological challenges in this area. Then, they summarize the literature on residential fathers and child well-being, finding that greater involvement has been linked to better outcomes for children; however, much of this research has been conducted on more socioeconomically advantaged samples. For fathers who live away from their children, child support payments appear to improve children’s outcomes, but the benefits of father-child interaction are much less clear and likely depend on the quality of the interaction and the characteristics of fathers. Overall, the authors conclude that low-income fathers can have a positive influence on children’s well-being, but the evidence about the population overall is rather weak.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcia J. Carlson & Katherine A. Magnuson, 2011. "Low-Income Fathers’ Influence on Children," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 635(1), pages 95-116, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:635:y:2011:i:1:p:95-116
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716210393853
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716210393853
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0002716210393853?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gordon B. Dahl & Lance Lochner, 2012. "The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(5), pages 1927-1956, August.
    2. Marcia Carlson & Sara McLanahan & Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, 2008. "Coparenting and nonresident fathers’ involvement with young children after a nonmarital birth," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(2), pages 461-488, May.
    3. Laura Tach & Ronald Mincy & Kathryn Edin, 2010. "Parenting as A “package deal”: Relationships, fertility, and nonresident father involvement among unmarried parents," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(1), pages 181-204, February.
    4. Andrew Cherlin, 1999. "Going to extremes: Family structure, children’s well-being, and social science," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(4), pages 421-428, November.
    5. Elizabeth Cooksey & Patricia Craig, 1998. "Parenting from a distance: The effects of paternal characteristics on contact between nonresidential fathers and their children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(2), pages 187-200, May.
    6. Lenna Nepomnyaschy, 2007. "Child support and father-child contact: Testing reciprocal pathways," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(1), pages 93-112, February.
    7. Kevin Milligan & Mark Stabile, 2011. "Do Child Tax Benefits Affect the Well-Being of Children? Evidence from Canadian Child Benefit Expansions," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 175-205, August.
    8. Frank Mott, 1990. "When is a father really gone? Paternal—Child contact in father-absent homes," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 27(4), pages 499-517, November.
    9. DeKlyen, M. & Brooks-Gunn, J. & McLanahan, S. & Knab, J., 2006. "The mental health of married, cohabiting, and non-coresident parents with infants," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(10), pages 1836-1841.
    10. Kathleen Harris & Frank Furstenberg & Jeremy Marmer, 1998. "Paternal involvement with adolescents in intact families: The influence of fathers over the life course," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(2), pages 201-216, May.
    11. Sandra Hofferth, 2006. "Residential father family type and child well-being: Investment versus selection," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(1), pages 53-77, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marcia J. Carlson & Sara S. McLanahan, 2009. "Fathers in Fragile Families," Working Papers 1189, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    2. repec:pri:crcwel:wp09-14-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Chen, Yiyu & Meyer, Daniel R., 2017. "Does joint legal custody increase child support for nonmarital children?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 547-557.
    4. Lawrence M. Berger & Callie E. Langton, 2011. "Young Disadvantaged Men as Fathers," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 635(1), pages 56-75, May.
    5. Berger, Lawrence M. & Cancian, Maria & Meyer, Daniel R., 2012. "Maternal re-partnering and new-partner fertility: Associations with nonresident father investments in children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 426-436.
    6. Nancy E. Cohen, 2003. "Unmarried African American Fathers' Involvement with Their Infants: The Role of Couple Relationships," Working Papers 954, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    7. 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.
    8. repec:pri:crcwel:wp03-13-ff-cohen is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Rossin-Slater, Maya & Wüst, Miriam, 2018. "Parental responses to child support obligations: Evidence from administrative data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 183-196.
    10. Guarin, Angela & Meyer, Daniel R., 2018. "Are low earnings of nonresidential fathers a barrier to their involvement with children?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 304-318.
    11. Maria Cancian & Daniel Meyer & Steven Cook, 2011. "The Evolution of Family Complexity from the Perspective of Nonmarital Children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(3), pages 957-982, August.
    12. Jacob Cheadle & Paul Amato & Valarie King, 2010. "Patterns of nonresident father contact," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(1), pages 205-225, February.
    13. Elizabeth M. Caucutt & Lance Lochner & Youngmin Park, 2017. "Correlation, Consumption, Confusion, or Constraints: Why Do Poor Children Perform so Poorly?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(1), pages 102-147, January.
    14. Julia S. Goldberg, 2011. "Identity Salience and Involvement among Resident and Nonresident Fathers," Working Papers 1323, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    15. repec:pri:crcwel:wp12-10-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Hicks, Jeffrey & Simard-Duplain, Gaëlle & Green, David A. & Warburton, William, 2022. "The effect of reducing welfare access on employment, health, and children's long-run outcomes," CLEF Working Paper Series 51, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    17. Elizabeth Washbrook & Paul Gregg & Carol Propper, 2014. "A decomposition analysis of the relationship between parental income and multiple child outcomes," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 177(4), pages 757-782, October.
    18. Alex Proshin, 2020. "Impact of Child Subsidies on Child Health, Well-being and Parental Investment in Human Capital: Evidence from Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey 2011-2017," PSE Working Papers halshs-02652268, HAL.
    19. Marcia J. Carlson & Robin S. Högnäs, 2010. "Coparenting in Fragile Families," Working Papers 1188, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    20. James J. Heckman & Stefano Mosso, 2014. "The Economics of Human Development and Social Mobility," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 689-733, August.
    21. Britta Rude, 2022. "Can We Grow with our Children? The Effects of a Comprehensive Early Childhood Development Program," ifo Working Paper Series 372, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    22. Anna Aizer & Shari Eli & Joseph P. Ferrie & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2014. "The Long Term Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families," NBER Working Papers 20103, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Laura Tach, 2012. "Family Complexity, Childbearing, and Parenting Stress: A Comparison of Mothers' and Fathers' Experiences," Working Papers 1425, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:635:y:2011:i:1:p:95-116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.