Trajectories and Consequences of Nonmarital Fathering

项目摘要 这个项目的总体目标是调查与男性成为未婚父亲和 未婚父亲养育子女的性质和后果。这是一个重要的话题， 考虑到越来越多的男性将在婚外至少生一个孩子，而且 很大一部分孩子和母亲将暴露在他们的父亲行为中。然而，我们的知识 关于非婚父亲以及它对伴侣、孩子和父亲本身的影响仍然有限， 部分原因是男性在全国调查中的比例往往偏低。父亲代表着一个重要的 为儿童提供资源，理想地投资于促进儿童健康发展的时间、金钱和情感 和社交，但未婚父亲通常具有个人和背景特征，这些特征阻止和 使他们积极参与家庭生活的潜力复杂化；这些包括低人力资本、高比率 社会行为问题，与孩子分开生活的可能性很高，以及三个重要的 但很少有人研究非婚父亲与母亲之间持续关系的相关因素 (无论是浪漫的和/或共同育儿的)，未婚男性(和女性)通常通过 多配偶(所谓的“多配偶生育”)，以及相当数量的未婚父亲 已经或将要被监禁。使用三个国家数据集(全国家庭增长调查， 1979年全国青年纵向调查和脆弱家庭和儿童福祉研究) 研究将提供关于最近和当代气候变化轨迹和后果的新信息 非婚父亲。本研究包括三个具体目的：1)评估非婚者的前驱因素 为人父和成为未婚父亲对男性生命历程的影响；2)分析 以及未婚父亲作为伴侣和父母参与家庭的动态，特别是与 与母亲的关系、多配偶生育和父亲监禁；以及3)检查 未婚父亲参与子女和父亲自身福祉的后果， 包括福利是否受到父亲的特征或背景的影响。使用生命历程 本项目将以家庭系统理论为视角，对中国的关键阶段和转折点进行评估。 男性先成为未婚父亲，然后成为未婚父亲，包括促进和抑制积极因素 随着时间的推移为人父母。这项研究将探索未婚父亲的种族/民族差异，并考虑关键 与社会选择和数据缺失相关的分析挑战。总体而言，这项研究将提供新的 关于为孩子和家庭做非婚父亲的过程、内容和后果的信息 并可能为制定健全的政策和计划以加强家庭提供帮助。项目叙事 这项研究将提供有关男性成为未婚父亲和 未婚父亲养育子女的性质和后果。鉴于……比例的上升 非婚生育和父亲缺席对孩子的负面影响，这 研究将提供信息，以帮助制定合理的政策和计划，以留住父亲 与儿童联系在一起，并加强不同背景下的家庭。

Project Summary The overall aim of this project is to investigate the factors associated with men becoming unwed fathers and the nature and consequences of unmarried fathers' involvement with children. This is an important topic, given the large and growing number of men who will have at least one child outside of marriageand the large fraction of children and mothers who will be exposed to their fathering behavior. Yet, our knowledge about nonmarital fathering and how it affects partners, children, and the fathers themselves remains limited, in part because men are often under-represented in national surveys. Fathers represent an important resource for children, ideally investing the time, money and emotion that promote healthy child development and socialization, but unwed fathers often have individual and contextual characteristics that deter and complicate their potential for positive involvement in family life; these include low human capital, high rates of social-behavioral problems, and a high likelihood of living away from their child, as well as three important but little explored factors related to nonmarital fatheringfathers' ongoing relationships with mothers (whether romantic and/or co-parenting), the fact that unmarried men (and women) often have children by multiple partners (so-called `multi-partnered fertility'), and the fact that a non-trivial number of unwed fathers have been or will be incarcerated. Using three national datasets (the National Survey of Family Growth, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, and the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study), this research will provide new information about the trajectories and consequences of recent and contemporary nonmarital fathering. The study includes three specific aims: 1) To evaluate the antecedents of nonmarital fatherhood and the effects of becoming an unwed father on the male life course; 2) To analyze the nature and dynamics of unwed fathers' involvement in families as partners and parents, especially as linked to relationships with mothers, multi-partnered fertility, and paternal incarceration; and 3) To examine the consequences of unmarried fathers' involvement for the wellbeing of children and of fathers themselves, including whether the benefits are moderated by fathers' characteristics or context. Using a life course perspective and drawing on family systems theory, this project will evaluate key stages and turning points in men becomingand then beingunmarried fathers, including factors that both enhance and deter positive parenting over time. The study will explore race/ethnic differences in unwed fathering and consider key analytic challenges related to social selection and missing data. Overall, this study will provide new information about the process, content, and consequences of nonmarital fathering for children and families and may shed light on the development of sound policies and programs to strengthen families. Project Narrative This study will provide new information about the factors associated with men becoming unwed fathers and the nature and consequences of unmarried fathers' involvement with children. Given the rising fraction of births that occur outside of marriageand the negative consequences of father absence for children, this study will provide information to aid the development of sound policies and programs to keep fathers connected to children and to strengthen families across diverse contexts.