Understanding Today's Changing Families

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12146
• Published date: 01 April 2015
• Date: 01 April 2015
• Author: Nora Ankrum,Cynthia Osborne

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLES

UNDERSTANDING TODAY’S CHANGING FAMILIES

Cynthia Osborne and Nora Ankrum

When their children are born, most unmarried parents have high expectations for the future, but they are particularly vulnerable

to financial and relationship instability.Their children are disproportionately likely to experience negative health and wellbeing

outcomes, in part because of low father involvement. We provide an overview of the findings in this area, drawing primarily

from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and two studies conducted by the Child and FamilyResearch Par tnership

at The University of Texas at Austin. We conclude that father involvement is largely a function of parental relationship quality,

and that interventions designed to improve child outcomes should focus on enhancement of co-parenting skills.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

• Relative to their married peers, unmarried parents face distinct barriers to financial and relationship stability.

• Children of unmarried parents are more likely to experience negativeoutcomes for health and wellbeing, in part because

of low father involvement.

• One of the most consistent predictors of father involvement is the quality of the father’s relationship with the mother.

• Interventions that teach co-parenting skills may enhance relationship quality and increase positive father involvement.

Keywords: Unmarried Parents;Fragile Families;Nonmarital Births;Family Instability;Child Wellbeing;Father Involve-

ment;Co-Parenting;and Paternity Establishment

INTRODUCTION

American families are changing rapidly.Today,more than 40% of children in the United States are

born outside of marriage (Hamilton, Martin, Osterman, & Curtin, 2014). This percentage has more

than doubled since 1980, at which time it was more than three times the percentage in 1960 (Child

Trends DataBank, 2014). Simultaneously, the number of unmarried couples who are cohabiting has

increased. From 2006 to 2010, 23% of all babies in the United States were born to unmarried parents

who lived together, an increase from 14% in 2002 (Martinez, Daniels, & Chandra, 2012). Among

children born to unmarried parents in 2012, almost half were born to cohabiting parents, an increase

from 40% in 2002 (Martinez et al., 2012; Chandra, Martinez, Mosher, Abma, & Jones, 2005).

This article reviews research on the dynamics of unmarried families and the effects on children,

drawing primarily from three studies. Conducted in 20 large U.S. cities, the Fragile Families and Child

Wellbeing Study is a large, national, urban survey that followed a cohort of approximately 5,000

children born between 1998 and 2000.1Mothers and fathers (3,712 unmarried couples) were inter-

viewed initially upon the birth of their children, and again one, three, five, and nine years later. The

Paternity Establishment Study (PES) and Checking In With AOP Signers (CAS; AOP =Acknowl-

edgment of Paternity) studies were conducted in 2013 by the Child and Family Research Partnership

at the University of Texas at Austin. Both studies draw from representative samples of unmarried

parents in Texas, a large and diverse state that provides a window into demographic trends emerging

elsewhere in the United States.2The PES survey draws from a sample of 800 mothers and 300 fathers

interviewed approximately three months after the birth of their children. The CAS surveydraws from

Correspondence: cosborne@prc.utexas.edu

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol.53 No. 2, April 2015 221–232

© 2015 Association of Familyand Conciliation Cour ts