U.S. Women’s and Men’s Experience of Complex Parenthood

Many U.S. adults simultaneously occupy roles as biological, adoptive, or stepparents to coresident and/or non-resident children—which we describe as complex parenthood. We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1985–2019) to describe differences in years spent in complex parenthood statuses overall and by racial and Hispanic identity and family educational attainment among women and men ages 15–44 years in two recent periods. Complex parenthood experience differs for women and men. While living with own biological children was the most common parenthood circumstance for both mothers and fathers, greater parenthood complexity was observed for fathers. Fathers spent 35 to 40 percent of their parenting years as stepparents or with their own biological children living elsewhere, compared to about 20 percent of mothers’ parenting years. Across all sociodemographic groups (by race, Hispanic ethnicity and educational background), mothers mostly lived with all of their own biological children. Sociodemographic differences in parenting circumstances were more pronounced among men but have diminished over time as men from less-educated families and Black and Hispanic men have gained more childless years, a trend offset by fewer years with children living elsewhere. This chapter provides new information about the range of parenthood experiences for men and women across two recent periods, highlighting similarities and differences.