Incapacitated Involvement: Incarceration and Fatherhood in Fragile Families at Age 9

Abstract

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to expand knowledge about the impact of paternal incarceration on fathering in three specific ways: (a) we explore fathers’ involvement with children in middle childhood, (b) we examine the extent to which we observe similar reports of father involvement across mothers and fathers, and (c) we assess how paternal incarceration influences children’s own assessments of their relationships with their fathers. Results from propensity score models indicate that paternal incarceration is associated with decreased father involvement for children in middle childhood. Paternal incarceration has adverse effects on both mother and father reports of father involvement but the magnitude of the effect depends on which parent-report is considered. Interestingly, children’s assessments of their relationships with their fathers are relatively unaffected by fathers’ incarceration. Implications for research and policy regarding incarcerees’ families and children are discussed.

Providing After Prison: Nonresident Fathers’ Formal and Informal Contributions to Children

“…A much higher prevalence of nonresidence among fathers with incarceration histories may therefore explain lower average financial contributions for this group (Geller, Garfinkel, and Western 2011). Consistent with these findings, the negative association between incarceration and fathers' provision of economic support is strongest for fathers who were previously resident with their children, though it is also observed for children with never-resident fathers (Washington, Juan, and Haskins 2018).…”

“…Empirical studies find that fathers with a history of incarceration are less likely to provide any economic support to young children (Washington, Juan, and Haskins 2018;Geller, Garfinkel, and Western 2011), and those who do contribute provide a lesser amount (Geller, Garfinkel, and Western 2011). Similarly, fathers with a history of incarceration are more likely to have accrued child support arrears-debt associated with nonpayment or underpayment of formal child support (Turner and Waller 2017;McLeod and Gottlieb 2018;Katzenstein and Waller 2015).…”

“…Among previously incarcerated fathers, informal cash and in-kind contributions are also apt to be lower because fathers maintain fewer informal support arrangements postincarceration (Swisher and Waller 2008), and informal support is closely linked to the time they spend with their children (Nepomnyaschy 2007;Turner and Waller 2017;Waller, Dwyer Emory, and Paul 2018). Indeed, one study finds that formerly incarcerated fathers provided goods such as clothes, school supplies, and other material items for their children less frequently than their never-incarcerated counterparts (Washington, Juan, and Haskins 2018). Further, research suggests that formal and informal cash child support are substitutes in that fathers' informal contributions can stop if and when mothers obtain a child support order and formal support begins to be withheld from their wages (Nepomnyaschy and Garfinkel 2010;Sariscsany, Garfinkel, and Nepomnyaschy 2019).…”

“…We include a rich set of controls, based on research on risks for both criminal justice involvement and participation in the formal economy (Sykes and Geller 2017;Washington, Juan, and Haskins 2018), that may confound the relationship between incarceration and fathers' contributions to their children's household. We are careful not to include variables that may be on the causal pathway between incarceration and economic support, such as fathers' work status or earnings, because we are interested in estimating the direct efect of this association.…”

Paternal Support and Involvement in Unmarried Fragile Families: Impacts on Long‐Term Maternal Mental Health

“…Fragile families are defined as those that include unmarried or romantically unstable parents who have children and are socioeconomically disadvantaged (Carlson & McLanahan, ). Typically, these families are formed after a nonmarital birth, and often consist of a residential mother and a nonresidential father (Washington, Juan, & Haskins, ). Many parents in fragile families cohabit, while others live apart but remain in a romantic relationship (Durtschi, Soloski, & Kimmes, ).…”