Unmarried Fathers' Earnings Trajectories: Does Partnership Status Matter?

Irwin Garfinkel, Sara McLanahan, Sarah Meadows and Ronald Mincy
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Irwin Garfinkel: Columbia University
Sara McLanahan: Princeton University
Sarah Meadows: RAND Corporation
Ronald Mincy: Columbia University

No 1133, Working Papers from Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing.

Abstract: Married men earn more than unmarried men. Previous research suggests that marriage itself causes some of the difference, but includes few men who fathered children out of wedlock. This paper asks whether increasing marriage (and possibly cohabitation) following a non-marital birth is likely to increase fathers' earnings and labor supply. The analyses are based on a new birth cohort study the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study which follows unmarried parents for the first five years after their child's birth. Results provide some support for the idea that increasing marriage will lead to increased fathers' earnings.

Keywords: Cohabitation; marriage; income; men; males; earnings; income; children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D60 I19 J12 J13 J30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-01
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https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/sites/fragilefamilies/files/wp09-02-ff.pdf

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pri:crcwel:wp09-02-ff.pdf

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