Chapter 4          The Changing Portrait of the American Family 

[slide show]

Resources

• "High Hopes But Even Higher Expectations: The Retreat From Marriage Among Low-Income Couples"   
   

• "A Balancing Act: Sources of Support, Child Care, and Hardship Among Unwed Mothers"   
   

• "'Just Get Me to the Church…': Assessing Policies to Promote Marriage Among Fragile Families"  
   

• Figure 1 - Marriage, Divorce and Nonmarital Birth Rates
   

• Figure 2 - Romantic Involvement of Unmarried Parents

Single Parent Families

"Looking for Murphy Brown: Are College-Educated, Single Mothers Unique?"   
 

"Single-Parent Families and Their Impact on Children: Changing Portrayals in Popular Magazines in the U.S., 1900-1998"   
 

Unmarried Mothers

• Unwed Parents: Myths, Realities, and Policymaking 
   

• Sources of Support and Economic Capabilities of New Unwed Mothers 
  Children and Youth Services Review, 2001, Vol. 23, No. 4/5
   

• High Hopes: Unmarried Parents' Expectations about Marriage at the Time of Their Child's Birth
  Children and Youth Services Review, 2001, Vol. 23, No. 6/7
   

• The Roles of Child Support Enforcement and Welfare in Non-marital Childbearing 
  Journal of Population Economics

Fathers

• An Exploratory Analysis of Father Involvement in Low-Income Families  
   

• Father Absence and Child Well-being: A Critical Review  
   

• Early Father Involvement in Fragile Families 
  Conceptualizing and Measuring Father Involvement. Randal Day and Michael Lamb, editors. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.  
   

• Characteristics and Antecedents of Involvement By Young, Unmarried Fathers  
   

• Life Without Father: What Happens to the Children  
   

• Unmarried Parents and Models of Fatherhood: New or Conventional Ideas About Paternal Involvement? 
   

• Do Fathers Really Matter?: Father Involvement and Socio-Psychological Outcomes for Adolescents 
   

• Father Absence and Youth Incarceration  

Measuring the Decline in U.S. Marriage Rates

U.S. Marriage Rates Drop Drastically, With Little Explanation

Consequences of Divorce for Children

Divorce and Children's Emotional Needs

Economic Needs of Children of Divorce

Reorganizing the Family after Divorce

The Economic Consequences of Divorce

Shared Parenting in Fragile Families
 

Figure 3 - Teen Pregnancy and Birth Rates, 1976-1997