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Fragile Families and Children's Opportunities

Author

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  • Sara McLanahan

    (Princeton University)

Abstract

The context of family life has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Today, over 40 percent of children in the U.S. are born to unmarried parents, up from only 5 percent in 1960. My research tries to understand why this change is happening and what it means for parents, children and society. To sum up, the increase in non-marital childbearing has negative consequences for parents, children and society. The fact that it is concentrated among poor and working class parents is especially worrisome insofar as these families are struggling already. The basic drivers of the trend are the decline in economic opportunities for those with a high school degree or less combined with changes in social norms that have de-stigmatized pre-marital sex. In addition, the current fertility dynamic in which couples are having children while they are searching for a suitable partner is making things worse. To reverse the trend, we will need to provide stronger incentives for young women to postpone motherhood, and we will need to make sure that their prospective partners have something to bring to the table. Failing to do so is likely to exacerbate inequality and reduce the mobility of the next generation.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara McLanahan, 2012. "Fragile Families and Children's Opportunities," Working Papers 1439, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    • Handle: RePEc:pri:crcwel:wp12-21-ff.pdf
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    File URL: https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/sites/fragilefamilies/files/wp12-21-ff_0.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    single parent families; Fragile Families; Children; marriage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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