The Minimum Wage and Fathers’ Residence with Children

Allison Dwyer Emory (), Daniel P. Miller, Lenna Nepomnyaschy, Maureen R. Waller and Alexandra Haralampoudis
Additional contact information
Allison Dwyer Emory: University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Daniel P. Miller: Boston University
Lenna Nepomnyaschy: Rutgers University
Maureen R. Waller: Cornell University
Alexandra Haralampoudis: Rutgers University

Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 2020, vol. 41, issue 3, No 7, 472-491

Abstract: Abstract The minimum wage is an important determinant of earnings among lower-skilled parents and may have implications for their children’s living arrangements. We used nationally representative data to examine associations between the minimum wage and fathers’ residence with their biological children. Results revealed no association between the minimum wage and father residence among all low-income families. However, this finding masks important heterogeneity within these families based on which parent’s earnings were sensitive to minimum wage levels. In families where only fathers’ earnings were sensitive to minimum wage levels, fathers were more likely to live with their children as minimum wages increased, consistent with research that shows the importance of economic stability for fathers’ residence and custody arrangements. In contrast, in families where only mothers’ earnings were sensitive to minimum wage levels, higher minimum wages were negatively associated with fathers’ residence, consistent with theories of maternal independence. These associations with residence were not observed in situations where both parents’ earnings were sensitive to the minimum wage. Results indicate that these economic policies may be consequential for family processes and well-being in key subsets of low-earning families.

Keywords: Father residence; Minimum wage policy; Maternal independence; Paternal custody; Low-income families; Living arrangements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10834-020-09691-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:41:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s10834-020-09691-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... es/journal/10834/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10834-020-09691-y

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Family and Economic Issues is currently edited by Joyce Serido

More articles in Journal of Family and Economic Issues from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().