Multipartnered Fertility and Children's Behavioral Outcomes Among Urban U.S. Families

Marcia Carlson, Frank Furstenberg, Jr., Sara McLanahan, Nathan Seltzer and Alicia VanOrman
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Marcia Carlson: University of Wisconsin−Madison
Frank Furstenberg, Jr.: University of Pennsylvania
Sara McLanahan: Princeton University
Nathan Seltzer: University of Wisconsin−Madison
Alicia VanOrman: Population Reference Bureau

Working Papers from Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing.

Abstract: At the nexus of changing marital and fertility behavior is a new reality of contemporary family life — the fact that a significant fraction of adults today (will) have biological children by more than one partner, sometimes called ‘multi-partnered fertility.’ Multi-partnered fertility may have important implications for children’s wellbeing because it affects family roles, relationships and kinship networks, particularly concerning the rearing and socialization of children. In this paper, we provide new evidence about how multi-partnered fertility is related to children’s behavioral outcomes (both externalizing and internalizing), comparing children whose mothers and/or fathers have a child by another partner to children with only full siblings. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we evaluate children’s behavior over a 12-year period (ages 3, 5, 9 and 15). This research has important implications for understanding the role of contemporary families in rearing children and for public policy designed to strengthen families.

Keywords: J12; J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pri:crcwel:wp17-09-ff

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