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

Abstract

a llIson dw y er emory , len na nepomn yasch y , m aur een r. wa ller , da n Iel p. mIller , a nd a lex a ndr a h a r a l a mpoudIs Incarceration among young, minority, economically disadvantaged men is pervasive in the United States and can impair their employment prospects. Because many of these men are fathers, incarceration also has serious implications for their ability to support their children. This article investigates the associations between incarceration and nonresident fathers' cash and in-kind contributions to their children's household economy. It then examines whether policies intended to protect employment opportunities mitigate the potential costs of incarceration for nonresident fathers' economic support of their children. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and new state policy data, we find that paternal incarceration reduces formal and informal support and that some policies offset the incarceration penalty, but clear differences by fathers' race emerge.

Working to Avoid Incarceration: Jail Threat and Labor Market Outcomes for Noncustodial Fathers Facing Child Support Enforcement

“…t h e c r I m I n a l J u s t I c e s y s t e m a s a l a b o r m a r k e t I n s t I t u t I o n r s f : t h e r u s s e l l s a g e f o u n d a t i o n j o u r n a l o f t h e s o c i a l s c i e n c e s14. When nonsupport involves a child in common, mothers may have better information about resulting incarceration, and less incentive to suppress it, than they do for most other offenses, though this may be less true where support is assigned to and retained by the state(Dwyer Emory et al 2020).…”

Parental Debt and Child Well-Being: What Type of Debt Matters for Child Outcomes?

“…Moreover, it can be very difficult for low-income parents to modify child support orders when they are out of work or incarcerated. Arrears typically double during periods of incarceration (National Council of State Legislatures 2019) and are three times higher among fathers with a history of incarceration (Dwyer Emory et al 2020). In addition to unpaid support owed under the terms of a child support order, arrears may also include interest, fees, Medicaid birthing costs, and retroactive support assessed for periods before child support orders are established (Heinrich, Burkhardt, and Shager 2011;Wheaton and Sorensen 2007).…”

“…These reductions may be the result of fathers' economic constraints, stigma around nonpayment, or weakened relationships with the mother due to possible conflict over support (Turner and Waller 2016). A robust body of research indicates that various indicators of nonresident fathers' involvement with children, including engaging in activities, involvement in school, providing material support, and close and warm relationships, are associated with improved cognitive, academic, and socioemotional outcomes for children (Nepomnyaschy, Magnuson, and Berger 2012;Choi 2010;Choi and Pyun 2014;Carlson and Magnuson 2011;Kim and Hill 2015;Adamsons and Johnson 2013;Miller et al 2020;Gold, Edin, and Nelson 2020;. Reduced father involvement with children is thus a distinct and potentially even stronger pathway through which child support debt may affect child well-being more than parental investment, lower subjective financial well-being, reduced future expectations, or increased parental stress.…”

“…Thus, debt should be considered not just at absolute levels, but as the burden of debt to income. Further, because Black low-income men are particularly disadvantaged in the labor market and are at much greater risk of incarceration (Western and Wildeman 2009;Pager 2003;Pate 2016;Dwyer Emory et al 2020), and because Black families are often saddled with debt on poor credit terms and may have less access to "good" types of debt (Dwyer 2018;Rona-Tas and Guseva 2018;Conwell and Ye 2021, this issue), these associations may differ by parents' racial and ethnic background. Next, because boys and girls are likely to exhibit socioemotional problems in different ways (Hankin, Mermelstein, and Roesch 2007;Newsome et al 2016;Rutter, Caspi, and Moffitt 2003), we expect possible differences in these associations by child sex.…”

Child support debt and the well‐being of disadvantaged fathers of color

“…Further, families with high household debt increasingly forego medical care (Kalousova & Burgard, 2013; Wiltshire et al, 2011). Finally, men who have been incarcerated have higher arrears (Emory et al, 2020; McLeod & Gottlieb, 2018). Higher levels of debt after incarceration lead to challenges in securing formal employment (Link & Roman, 2017) and lower economic self‐sufficiency (Western, 2018), potentially increasing material hardships for low‐income fathers.…”