The life histories of American stepfathers in evolutionary perspective

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the characteristics of men who become stepfathers, and their subsequent fertility patterns and lifetime reproductive success. Because women who already have children are ranked lower in the marriage market than women without children, men who marry women with children (e.g., stepfathers) are likely to have lower rankings in the marriage market as well. Using retrospective fertility and marital histories from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), I show that men who become stepfathers have lower levels of education, less income, and are more likely to have been divorced before and to already have children, all characteristics that lower their rankings in the marriage market. Men with one or two stepchildren are just as likely to have children within a marriage as non-stepfathers, although men with three stepchildren show decreased fertility. Among men age 45 and older, stepfathers have lower lifetime fertility than non-stepfathers, although the difference disappears when men's age at first marriage is controlled for. Additionally, stepfathers have significantly higher fertility than men who never marry. The results suggest that some men become stepfathers to procure mates and fertility benefits that they would otherwise have been unlikely to obtain; for these men, raising other men's children serves as a form of mating effort.

Does Children’s Academic Achievement Improve when Single Mothers Marry?

“…On one hand, the financial circumstances of families improve after marriage (Lichter, Roempke Graefe, and Brown 2003; Page and Stevens 2004) and in recent cohorts of men many non-biological fathers show an active interest in their spouse’s children and spend time with them (Marsiglio 2004; Sandberg and Hofferth 2001), potentially increasing investments in children. On the other hand, stepparents tend to be disadvantaged in myriad ways (e.g., they are younger, poorer, work less, and have completed fewer years of schooling) (Bernhardt and Goldscheider 2001; Hofferth and Anderson 2003; Manning and Lichter 1996; Sassler and Goldscheider 2004), and patterns of parental investment differ for biological and nonbiological children (Case, Lin, and McLanahan 2000; Dunn and Phillips 1997; Pezzin and Schone 1997), with stepfathers investing less time with their young stepchildren (Hofferth and Anderson 2003) and spending less than biological fathers on the educational expenses of their children (Anderson 2000). Moreover, mothers in new marriages tend to spend less time with their children, potentially reducing the time invested in children (Thomson, Hanson, and McLanahan 1994).…”

Risk of Death or Life-Threatening Injury for Women with Children Not Sired by the Abuser

“…There is some evidence for this hypothesis, because men who become stepfathers differ in systematic ways from men who do not become stepfathers. Stepfathers are less educated, have lower income, and are more likely to have been divorced and to already have children themselves (Anderson 2000). Thus, it seems possible that men who have been excluded from the mating market may be pursuing a coercive mating strategy, sometimes to their own potential detriment, as in the case of femicide.…”

Las parejas reconstituidas en España: un fenómeno emergente con perfiles heterogéneos

“…Mientras algunos estudios apuntan a que la presencia de hijos no comunes a la pareja reduce el riesgo de tener un hijo común (Vikat et al, 2004), especialmente si la mujer tiene dos hijos o más (Thomson et al, 2014), otros afi rman que la presencia de estos no tiene efecto alguno (Anderson, 2000). Lo que parece irrefutable es que el hijo común tiene un gran valor para la familia (Thomson, 2004), afi anzando la solidez estructural de la misma (Juby et al, 2001) y creando un compromiso entre los padres (Heintz-Martin et al, 2014).…”

“…While some studies suggest that having non-common children reduces the likelihood of having a common child (Vikat et al, 2004), particularly if the woman already has two or more children (Thomson et al, 2014), other studies find that the presence (or not) of previous children has no effect on step family fertility (Anderson, 2000). What seems to be irrefutable is that a common child holds great value for the step family (Thomson, 2004), as it underpins its structural integrity (Juby et al, 2001) and creates a strong bond between the parents (Heintz- Martin et al, 2014).…”