This paper uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the association between multi-partnered fertility (MPF) – when parents have children with more than one partner – and parents‘ mental health, including Major Depressive Disorder, heavy episodic drinking, and illicit drug use. Read More

This working paper assesses the representativeness of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study sample. It compares the demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics of children and families participating in the Fragile Families Study to those of the children and families participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort of 2001. Read More

Americans strongly believe that having a father and a mother in the home is essential to a child's happiness, although a significant minority of the nation's children still live at least part of their formative years without their fathers in the home. Findings like these galvanize the "responsible fatherhood" movement to investigate ways to improve […]

Back in the 1970s, before we met Dr. Phil; ate, prayed, and loved; and saw a British prince arrange his own marriage, it seemed like the institution of wedlock was doomed. "The divorce rate was going up at an incredible rate. One of the things people were thinking at that time was, 'Wow, does this […]

Family structure has an impact on a child’s economic mobility prospects, according to the Pew Economic Policy Group’s report "Family Structure and the Economic Mobility of Children." Read More

A Pew Research Center report this year noted a surge in women between the ages of 30 and 44 making more money than their husbands. Read More

Now divorce statistics are coming under scrutiny — and not just because of their unromanticity. Read More

Previous studies have shown that men with younger wives live longer. While it had long been assumed that women with younger husbands also live longer, in a new study Sven Drefahl from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany, has shown that this is not the case. Read More

Relationship Skills Education and Child Support: Evidence from a Program Partnership in Texas. This report evaluates the impact of a partnership between the relationship education program Building Strong Families, and the Child Support Division of the Texas Office of the Attorney General, on child support orders, child support payments, and father involvement. Read More.

The research evidence suggests that parents' relationship with each other should be a fundamental consideration in future programs aimed at increasing low-income fathers' involvement with their children. Read More