Fragile Families and Children's Opportunities

Sara McLanahan
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Sara McLanahan: Princeton University

No 1439, Working Papers from Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing.

Abstract: The context of family life has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Today, over 40 percent of children in the U.S. are born to unmarried parents, up from only 5 percent in 1960. My research tries to understand why this change is happening and what it means for parents, children and society. To sum up, the increase in non-marital childbearing has negative consequences for parents, children and society. The fact that it is concentrated among poor and working class parents is especially worrisome insofar as these families are struggling already. The basic drivers of the trend are the decline in economic opportunities for those with a high school degree or less combined with changes in social norms that have de-stigmatized pre-marital sex. In addition, the current fertility dynamic in which couples are having children while they are searching for a suitable partner is making things worse. To reverse the trend, we will need to provide stronger incentives for young women to postpone motherhood, and we will need to make sure that their prospective partners have something to bring to the table. Failing to do so is likely to exacerbate inequality and reduce the mobility of the next generation.

Keywords: single parent families; Fragile Families; Children; marriage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 D60 H31 I30 J12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-04
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