Carl E. Bentelspacher, Ph.D., Department of Social Work Lori Ann Campbell, Ph.D., Department of Sociology Michael Leber Department of Sociology Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

ISSUE Major changes in American family forms: HIGH DIVORCE RATE DECREASE IN MARRIAGE RATES AND TWO-PARENT FAMILIES ONLY 35% OF FATHERS LIVE WITH THEIR BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN FATHERHOOD = AN INSTITUTION IN FLUX NEGATIVE OUTCOMES OF CHILDREN IN SINGLE- PARENT FAMILIES, ON AVERAGE NEGATIVE IMPACT ON BOTH PARENTS

AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES ABOUT 2/3 OF CHILDREN BORN OUT-OF- WEDLOCK MOST LIKELY TO PRODUCE NON-MARITAL BIRTHS AND NOT MARRY 69% of CHILDREN RAISED IN SINGLE-PARENT, FEMALE-HEADED FAMILIES HIGHEST POVERTY RATES

ROLE PERFORMANCE OF NONRESIDENT FATHERS COMPARED TO RESIDENT FATHERS LESS TIME INVOLVEMENT LESS FINANCIAL RESOURCES LESS NURTURING AND GUIDANCE LESS ACCESS TO COMMUNITY RESOURCES (SOCIAL CAPITAL) LESS INFLUENCE ON ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL MATTERS

OUTCOMES OF CHILDREN IN SINGLE- PARENT, FEMALE-HEADED FAMILIES HIGHER RATES OF EMOTIONAL AND/OR BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS LOWER ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT SCORES HIGHER SCHOOL DROP-OUT RATES LOWER MARRIAGE RATES IN ADULTHOOD HIGHER POVERTY RATES

OUTCOMES FOR NONRESIDENT FATHERS LACK PARENTAL ROLE CLARITY: WHAT IS MY FUNCTION? HOW CAN I BE AN INVOLVED PARENT ON PART-TIME BASIS REDUCTION IN PARENTAL ROLE SATISFACTION WITHDRAW; START A NEW FAMILY

OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN WITH POSITIVE NONRESIDENT FATHER RELATIONSHIP OUTCOMES SIMILAR TO THOSE OF CHILDREN IN 2-PARENT FAMILIES related to: PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT SUCCESS IN ADULT SOCIAL ROLES

OUTCOMES FOR MOTHER ABLE TO SHARE PARENTING RESPONSIBILITIES LESS ECONOMIC AND EMOTIONAL STRESS FOCUS ON CAREER GOALS

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LEVEL OF NONRESIDENT-CHILD INVOLVEMENT: PRIOR RESEARCH FINDINGS- BROAD RANGE OF FACTORS IDENTIFIED FATHER’S PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, INCLUDING HUMAN CAPITAL POST-DIVORCE, PARENTAL RELATIONSHIP RESOURCES IN OPPORTUNITIES IN FATHER’S ENVIRONMENT GEOGRAPHIC DISTANCE BETWEEN FATHER AND CHILD

GOALS OF CURRENT STUDY 1. IDENTIFY THE NONRESIDENT FATHER-RELATED FACTORS MOST PREDICTIVE OF LEVEL OF FATHER-CHILD INVOLVEMENT 2. DEVELOP A ‘PROFILE’ OF FATHERS WHO ARE VERY INVOLVED WITH THEIR CHILDREN, AS COMPARED TO THOSE WHO ARE LESS INVOLVED

Data & Measurement National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 (NLSY79) Nationally representative longitudinal panel survey 12,000 young men and women ages in 1979 ‘Early baby boom’ generation Respondents are in their late 40’s & early 50’s today Over 23 rounds of survey to date

Our Sample We use a pooled sample across years ( ) Strategy increases heterogeneity of sample as well as the sample size Approximately 500 cases excluded for missing data Final sample N=1,942 fathers Sample includes white, black and Hispanic men

Father Involvement Study nonresident father involvement with the first-born child Examine father involvement during the first year the father did not live with the child Future research will examine father involvement during later years

Measurement of Involvement We measured father involvement by the father’s report of the frequency of his visitation Father involvement is measured in four levels: Rarely involved saw child once during year or not at all Occasionally saw child 2-11 times year Monthly saw child 1-3 times per month Highly involved saw child once per week or more often

Other Independent Variables Race-ethnicity Family of origin (intact family & parents’ education) Status at birth of child (teenage parent & non-marital birth) SES (education, income, employment) Family composition (current marital status & children in father’s household) Geographic distance between father and child Sex of child

Methods When dependent variable is categorical, logistic regression can be used Multiple categories of dependent variable require multinomial logistic regression Use SAS software to conduct analysis

Results from Logistic Regression Recall, our dependent variable has 4 levels measuring the extent of father involvement: Rarely or never Occasionally Monthly Weekly or more often Overall model is significant and explains betw 26% - 43% of variance of father’s involvement

Likelihood Ratio Tests Several independent variables are statistically significant, including: Race Teenage parent Intact family SES – college education, waged, employment Geographic distance between father & child

Results Effect of race: for black fathers relative to white fathers, the log-odds of being ‘rarely’ involved as compared to ‘highly’ involved would decrease by 0.53, controlling for other factors In other words, black fathers are less likely than white fathers to to be ‘rarely’ involved fathers Results similar for Hispanic fathers

More results Effect of family of origin – intact family: men who grew up with both parents are less likely than men from non-intact families to be ‘rarely’ involved Men who had children as a teenager are more likely than men who had children in their 20s or 30s to be ‘rarely’ involved dads

Socioeconomic Status Men are more likely to be ‘rarely’ involved if: They have less education (relative those with a college degree) They have low incomes (relative to those with highest income) They have little savings/assets or are in debt (relative to those with highest wealth) They have dropped out of the labor force (relative to those who are employed)

Geographic Distance Fathers who live more than 100 miles away from their children are much more likely to see their children rarely rather than weekly This makes sense given that fathers who live far away would have difficulty travelling to see their children every week We do not know why fathers live so far away

Future Research Little is known about geographic distance although it is the most powerful independent variable It explains most of the variance in involvement Did fathers move away or did mothers move away? Why are fathers and children living far apart? Do they have contact that is not in person – , phone, Skype?