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?