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Fathers are more likely to regularly see their children and pay child support when they perceive a
degree of parental involvement (Peters et all., 2004)
Policy interventions need to focus on strengthening mother-father
relationships as well as improving fathers’ ability to provide
economic support and be involved in other arenas of parenting.
Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 2000.
The quality of the relationship between children’s parents
matters for children. Children benefit when both
parents are present and functioning in a low conflict
relationship.Carlson, McLanahan and England, 2004.
Most unmarried parents are highly committed to each other at their child’s birth and hope to marry.
However the percentage of couples who are working together to raise
their children decreases from almost 60% at the child's birth to only 13% when the child reaches
their teens.The Fragile Families and Child-Wellbeing Study
Home visiting programs need to take a family systems approach in
which father involvement is tied to the couple relationship, the father’s family and maternal
grandmother.Kalil et all, 2005
“families that adjust well to life’s challenges tend to be those in which there exists a supportive partnership between the adults who are responsible for guiding the socialization of the family's children.”
Salvador Minuchin, Families and Family Therapy, 1974
The risks of negative outcomes (of growing up in a single parent
family) are reduced if the parents cooperatively work together to
raise their children, and if regular financial and emotional support
are received from the non-custodial parent.
(Kelly and Emery, 2003, Feinberg, 2002)
Barriers to marriage
Financial concernsbeing employed, having assets and enough money
for a “proper” weddingRelationship issues
father’s maturity, low trust, sexual infidelity, domestic violence
Timing issuesneed time to plan the wedding
Gibson, Edin and McLanahan, 2003 from Fragile Family Interview Data
Barriers to healthy family formation and father involvement
• Incarceration• Domestic violence• Mental health problems• Drug and alcohol abuse
Waller and Shisher, 2006
When mothers are able to yield to father’s involvement, and fathers are able to approach child care with a sense of wanting to learn, not only are parent-child relationships strengthened, but also the relationship between co-parents.
Knudson-Martin and Mahoney (2005)
Unmarried parents express a strong desire to form a family and work together to raise their children. Marriage may not be a realistic goal for these families, but strengthening their ability to co-parent may show more promise in terms of improving child well-being outcomes.
Shirer, 2009
•
Family members personality characteristics, mental health and well being
Three generational transmission of expectations and behavior patterns
Quality of the parent-child relationships
Quality of the relationship between parents
Balance of life stresses and social supports for the familyCowan, Cowan, Pruett, Pruett, 2006
Children’s development and adaptation are predicted by the risks and buffers in 5 interconnected domains:
Couple relationship quality and father involvement are key factors in establishing and collecting child
support
Even if parents are experiencing relationship discord and distress
but are able to maintain a positive co-parenting relationship, adverse
outcomes for children will be reduced.
Positive co-parenting (i.e. mutual support of the parenting role,
childrearing agreement, equitable division of parenting responsibilities
and parents’ management of interaction patterns) has been
found to be an important mediator between the couple relationship
and child outcomes.
Early involvement of the non-custodial parent with his or
her child predicts a pattern of connection and support for the
child.
Family relationships – particularly with the paternal grandparents and
maternal grandmother impact father involvement.
When the mother has a positive relationship with the father’s family
and the father with the mother’s mother, there are more positive patterns of father involvement.
Kalil, Ziol-Guest and Coley (2005)