IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pri/crcwel/wp06-28-ff.pdf.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Consequences of Multi-partnered Fertility for Parental Involvement and Relationships

Author

Listed:
  • Marcia J. Carlson

    (Columbia University)

  • Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr.

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

At the nexus of changing marital and fertility behavior is a new reality of contemporary family life -- the fact that a significant fraction of adults today (will) have biological children by more than one partner, sometimes called "multi-partnered fertility." In this paper, we use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to explore the consequences of multi-partnered fertility for family relationships about three years after a baby's birth. We find that earlier parental obligations are strongly linked to the focal couple's relationship quality and their ability to co-parent effectively. Fathers' having previous children is particularly deleterious -- at least from mothers' perspectives. We discuss the implications of our findings for family roles in childrearing, the organization of kin networks, and current public policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcia J. Carlson & Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., 2007. "The Consequences of Multi-partnered Fertility for Parental Involvement and Relationships," Working Papers 908, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    • Handle: RePEc:pri:crcwel:wp06-28-ff.pdf
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/sites/fragilefamilies/files/wp06-28-ff.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick Royston, 2004. "Multiple imputation of missing values," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 227-241, September.
    2. M. Robin Dion, "undated". "Healthy Marriage Programs: Learning What Works," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 700e2d88f10b4f079d504806a, Mathematica Policy Research.
    3. Donna Ginther & Robert Pollak, 2004. "Family structure and children’s educational outcomes: Blended families, stylized facts, and descriptive regressions," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(4), pages 671-696, November.
    4. 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.
    5. Marcia Carlson & Sara Mclanahan & Paula England, 2004. "Union formation in fragile families," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(2), pages 237-261, May.
    6. repec:pri:crcwel:wp02-03-ff-mincy is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Reichman, Nancy E. & Teitler, Julien O. & Garfinkel, Irwin & McLanahan, Sara S., 2001. "Fragile Families: sample and design," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4-5), pages 303-326.
    8. repec:pri:crcwel:wp05-07-ff.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Eirik Evenhouse & Siobhan Reilly, 2004. "A Sibling Study of Stepchild Well-being," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(1).
    10. Teresa Martin & Larry Bumpass, 1989. "Recent trends in marital disruption," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 26(1), pages 37-51, February.
    11. Maria Cancian & Daniel Meyer, 1998. "Who gets custody?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(2), pages 147-157, May.
    12. Weiss, Yoram & Willis, Robert J, 1985. "Children as Collective Goods and Divorce Settlements," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 268-292, July.
    13. Larry Bumpass & R. Raley & James Sweet, 1995. "The changing character of stepfamilies: implications of cohabitation and nonmarital childbearing," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 32(3), pages 425-436, August.
    14. Ronald B. Mincy, 2002. "Who Should Marry Whom? : Multiple Partner Fertility Among New Parents," Working Papers 964, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Donna K. Ginther & Astrid L. Grasdal & Robert A. Pollak, 2019. "Fathers' Multiple-Partner Fertility and Children’s Educational Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 26242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Karen Benjamin Guzzo, 2014. "New Partners, More Kids," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 654(1), pages 66-86, July.

    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. repec:pri:crcwel:wp06-28-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:pri:crcwel:wp07-07-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Chan, Kwok Ho & Fung, Ka Wai Terence, 2013. "The Effect of Social Fathers on the Cognitive Skills of Out-of-Wedlock Children," MPRA Paper 52875, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Sharon H. Bzostek & Marcia J. Carlson & Sara S. McLanahan, 2006. "Does Mother Know Best?: A Comparison Of Biological And Social Fathers After A Nonmarital Birth," Working Papers 919, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    5. 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.
    6. Chan, Kwok Ho & Fung, Ka Wai Terence, 2018. "The effect of social fathers on the cognitive skills of out-of-wedlock children in the U.S," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 146-159.
    7. repec:pri:crcwel:wp06-27-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Lawrence M. Berger & Marcia J. Carlson & Sharon H. Bzostek & Cynthia Osborne, 2007. "Parenting Practices of Resident Fathers: The Role of Marital and Biological Ties," Working Papers 901, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    9. Ronald Mincy & Jennifer Hill & Marilyn Sinkewicz, 2009. "Marriage: Cause or mere indicator of future earnings growth?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 417-439.
    10. Liliana E. Pezzin & Robert A. Pollak & Barbara Steinberg Schone, 2008. "Parental Marital Disruption, Family Type, and Transfers to Disabled Elderly Parents," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 63(6), pages 349-358.
    11. repec:pri:crcwel:wp06-09-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Gerald Eric Daniels & Venoo Kakar & Anoshua Chaudhuri, 2017. "Racial Differences in Transitions to Marriage for Unmarried Mothers," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 370-389, September.
    13. David Blau & Wilbert Klaauw, 2008. "A demographic analysis of the family structure experiences of children in the United States," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 193-221, September.
    14. Elizabeth Thomson & Trude Lappegård & Marcia Carlson & Ann Evans & Edith Gray, 2014. "Childbearing Across Partnerships in Australia, the United States, Norway, and Sweden," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(2), pages 485-508, April.
    15. Trude Lappegård & Elizabeth Thomson, 2018. "Intergenerational Transmission of Multipartner Fertility," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2205-2228, December.
    16. Lenna Nepomnyaschy & Irwin Garfinkel, 2009. "Child Support Enforcement and Fathers' Contributions to Their Nonmarital Children," Working Papers 909, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    17. Wendy D. Manning & Susan L. Brown & J. Bart Stykes, 2014. "Family Complexity among Children in the United States," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 654(1), pages 48-65, July.
    18. Benta A. Abuya & Maurice Mutisya & Elijah O. Onsomu & Moses Ngware & Moses Oketch, 2019. "Family Structure and Child Educational Attainment in the Slums of Nairobi, Kenya," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(2), pages 21582440198, June.
    19. Christina Gibson-Davis, 2014. "Magic Moment? Maternal Marriage for Children Born Out of Wedlock," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1345-1356, August.
    20. 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..
    21. An Katrien Sodermans & Koen Matthijs & Gray Swicegood, 2013. "Characteristics of joint physical custody families in Flanders," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 28(29), pages 821-848.
    22. repec:pri:crcwel:wp12-10-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Nancy E. Reichman & Hope Corman & Kelly Noonan, 2013. "Effects of Mental Health on Couple Relationship Status," Working Papers 1473, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    24. 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..
    25. Robin S. H�gn�s & Marcia J. Carlson, 2009. "Intergenerational Relationships and Union Stability in Fragile Families," Working Papers 1174, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:pri:crcwel:wp06-28-ff.pdf. 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: Bobray Bordelon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ccprius.html .

    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.