An Analysis of Factors Associated with Nonresident Fathering: Factors

Associated with Frequency of Parent-Child Contact

Carl E. Bentelspacher, Ph.D. , Department of Social Work

Lori Ann Campbell, Ph.D., Department of Sociology

Michael LeberDepartment of Sociology

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

ISSUEMajor changes in American family forms:

HIGH DIVORCE RATEDECREASE IN MARRIAGE RATES AND TWO-

PARENT FAMILIESONLY 35% OF FATHERS LIVE WITH THEIR

BIOLOGICAL CHILDRENFATHERHOOD = AN INSTITUTION IN FLUXNEGATIVE OUTCOMES OF CHILDREN IN

SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES, ON AVERAGENEGATIVE IMPACT ON BOTH PARENTS

AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIESABOUT 2/3 OF CHILDREN BORN OUT-OF-

WEDLOCKMOST LIKELY TO PRODUCE NON-MARITAL

BIRTHS AND NOT MARRY69% of CHILDREN RAISED IN SINGLE-

PARENT, FEMALE-HEADED FAMILIESHIGHEST POVERTY RATES

ROLE PERFORMANCE OF NONRESIDENT FATHERS COMPARED TO RESIDENT FATHERSLESS TIME INVOLVEMENTLESS FINANCIAL RESOURCESLESS NURTURING AND GUIDANCELESS ACCESS TO COMMUNITY

RESOURCES (SOCIAL CAPITAL)LESS INFLUENCE ON ACADEMIC AND

VOCATIONAL MATTERS

OUTCOMES OF CHILDREN IN SINGLE-PARENT, FEMALE-HEADED FAMILIESHIGHER RATES OF EMOTIONAL AND/OR

BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMSLOWER ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

SCORESHIGHER SCHOOL DROP-OUT RATESLOWER MARRIAGE RATES IN ADULTHOODHIGHER POVERTY RATES

OUTCOMES FOR NONRESIDENT FATHERSLACK 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 RELATIONSHIPOUTCOMES SIMILAR TO THOSE OF

CHILDREN IN 2-PARENT FAMILIES related to:PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTSUCCESS IN ADULT SOCIAL ROLES

OUTCOMES FOR MOTHERABLE TO SHARE PARENTING

RESPONSIBILITIESLESS ECONOMIC AND EMOTIONAL

STRESSFOCUS ON CAREER GOALS

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LEVEL OF NONRESIDENT-CHILD INVOLVEMENT: PRIOR RESEARCH FINDINGS- BROAD RANGE OF FACTORS IDENTIFIEDFATHER’S PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS,

INCLUDING HUMAN CAPITALPOST-DIVORCE, PARENTAL RELATIONSHIPRESOURCES IN OPPORTUNITIES IN

FATHER’S ENVIRONMENTGEOGRAPHIC DISTANCE BETWEEN

FATHER AND CHILD

GOALS OF CURRENT STUDY1. 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 & MeasurementNational Longitudinal Survey of Youth,

1979 (NLSY79)Nationally representative longitudinal

panel survey12,000 young men and women ages 18-22

in 1979 ‘Early baby boom’ generationRespondents are in their late 40’s & early

50’s todayOver 23 rounds of survey to date

Our SampleWe use a pooled sample across years

(1984-2006)Strategy increases heterogeneity of

sample as well as the sample sizeApproximately 500 cases excluded for

missing dataFinal sample N=1,942 fathersSample includes white, black and

Hispanic men

Father InvolvementStudy 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 InvolvementWe 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 yearMonthly saw child 1-3 times per monthHighly involved saw child once per week or

more often

Other Independent VariablesRace-ethnicityFamily 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

childSex of child

MethodsWhen dependent variable is categorical,

logistic regression can be usedMultiple categories of dependent variable

require multinomial logistic regressionUse SAS software to conduct analysis

Results from Logistic RegressionRecall, our dependent variable has 4

levels measuring the extent of father involvement:Rarely or neverOccasionallyMonthlyWeekly or more often

Overall model is significant and explains betw 26% - 43% of variance of father’s involvement

Likelihood Ratio TestsSeveral independent variables are

statistically significant, including:RaceTeenage parentIntact familySES – college education, waged, employmentGeographic distance between father & child

ResultsEffect 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 resultsEffect 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 StatusMen 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 DistanceFathers 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 ResearchLittle is known about geographic distance

although it is the most powerful independent variableIt 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 – email, phone, Skype?