The Consequences of Couples’ Pregnancy Intentions for Early Parental Behaviors and Infant Health: Does It Matter Who Is Asked?

Previous research has found that pregnancy intentions are predictive of some early parental behaviors and infant health outcomes. However, most studies have relied on mothers’ reports of pregnancy intentions and have examined only maternal behaviors which may affect children’s health. This analysis draws on baseline data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a 20-city study of unmarried parents and their children, to examine the relationship between pregnancy intentions and early parental and child outcomes. The study takes advantage of data collected from fathers and mothers to look at an alternate measure of pregnancy intention whether either parent considered abortion at the time they learned of the pregnancy and whether it is associated with maternal and paternal behaviors during the pregnancy and with infant birth weight. Results from regression analyses show that mothers are less likely to initiate early prenatal care and fathers are less likely to make cash or in-kind contributions during the pregnancy when one or both parents considered abortion. Which parents’ intentions are influential varies by outcome as well as by which parent reported it. Having both parents or the mother only consider abortion is also negatively associated with mothers’ reports of all parental behaviors, while having both parents or the father only consider abortion is negatively associated with fathers’ reports of their in-kind contributions and both parents’ reports of fathers’ cash contributions. Parents’ considerations are not significantly associated with infant birth weight. For early initiation of prenatal care, mothers’ reports of having considered abortion are consequential but fathers’ reports are not. Fathers’ considerations matter for their reports of their own contributions, but these outcomes are even worse when both parents considered abortion. Because findings differ by each parent’s intentions and by which parent reported paternal contributions, future research examining the consequences of pregnancy intention should examine measures of pregnancy intention and paternal behaviors reported by both parents.

Piling on Debt: The Intersections Between Child Support Arrears and Legal Financial Obligations

Child support is one of many debts that accumulate for poor nonresident parents during and after incarceration.  As with legal financial obligations, child support debt functions as a form of cost recovery to the state, includes other fees, costs, and interest added onto the original child support order, and triggers aggressive enforcement measures.  This Article focuses on child support policies that contribute to the debt burden held by the most disadvantaged parents, who are more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system and a history of incarceration.   The Article first addresses cost recovery by the child support program and then discusses child support debt as a collateral consequence of incarceration.   The Article also points to key factors driving this debt, including support orders that are not based on ability to pay, and identifies enforcement strategies that can further reduce nonresident parents’ ability to pay these debts, such as incarceration and driver’s license suspension.  We identify recent policy efforts that address the causes and consequences of accruing unmanageable debt, including during periods of incarceration.  The Article concludes with policy recommendations which would prioritize children’s wellbeing over cost recovery and help disadvantaged parents make consistent child support payments, participate in the job market, and maintain family relationships

The Well-Being of California\u27s Children

More than one in eight children in the United States lives in California. In recent years, California\u27s citizens and lawmakers have given a great deal of attention to addressing the needs of these children, and some programs have directed considerable resources toward enhancing their welfare and development. Given the growth in programs aimed at improving children\u27s well-being, it has become increasingly important to take stock of how children in the state are faring. However, our ability to assess child-centered policies has been seriously hindered because most national studies that include indicators of children\u27s well-being have not been large enough to yield reliable information on children at the state level. This report uses a new source of information—the National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF)—that was explicitly designed to measure children’s welfare and well-being and that provides a large enough sample of California families to assess the status of children in the state. In particular, the report draws on information collected for 1,917 children living in California households that participated in the 1999 NSAF to examine variations in the well-being of children in the state and how they are faring in comparison to children living elsewhere. An important objective of this report is to provide a baseline of information about children’s well-being in 1999 against which similar indicators can be reexamined in subsequent years. Moreover, this analysis provides information about the needs of special subgroups of children and suggests to policymakers ways to target the populations that are in particular need of assistance

Father involvement and socioeconomic disparities in child academic outcomes

OBJECTIVE This article explores whether father involvement can reduce socioeconomic disparities in child academic outcomes. BACKGROUND An emerging body of literature points to the benefits to children of involvement by low‐socioeconomic status (SES) fathers. Research has not systematically investigated whether differences in father involvement can account for SES‐based disparities in child outcomes. METHOD This study used data from 12,030 unique children from the 1998 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Using multiple regression models and novel simulation analyses, it investigated whether accounting for SES‐based differences in either the amount or effect of involvement by biological fathers explains gaps in reading scores, math scores, and rates of grade retention between low‐SES and high‐SES children. RESULTS Father residence, resident father school involvement, and a comprehensive index of nonresident father involvement were associated with better child academic outcomes. Associations between residence and nonresident father involvement and child outcomes were consistent for fathers in all SES quintiles. School involvement by low‐SES resident fathers was more beneficial than involvement by the highest SES fathers. Simulation analyses indicated that increasing the amount of involvement by low‐SES fathers to that of high‐SES fathers would result in minimal decreases in SES disparities in reading and math scores, but more sizeable decreases in rates of grade retention. CONCLUSION Increasing some types of father involvement may help to narrow academic gaps between low‐ and high‐SES children.Accepted manuscrip

Piling on Debt: The Intersections Between Child Support Arrears and Legal Financial Obligations

Child support is one of many debts that accumulate for poor nonresident parents during and after incarceration.  As with legal financial obligations, child support debt functions as a form of cost recovery to the state, includes other fees, costs, and interest added onto the original child support order, and triggers aggressive enforcement measures.  This Article focuses on child support policies that contribute to the debt burden held by the most disadvantaged parents, who are more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system and a history of incarceration.   The Article first addresses cost recovery by the child support program and then discusses child support debt as a collateral consequence of incarceration.   The Article also points to key factors driving this debt, including support orders that are not based on ability to pay, and identifies enforcement strategies that can further reduce nonresident parents’ ability to pay these debts, such as incarceration and driver’s license suspension.  We identify recent policy efforts that address the causes and consequences of accruing unmanageable debt, including during periods of incarceration.  The Article concludes with policy recommendations which would prioritize children’s wellbeing over cost recovery and help disadvantaged parents make consistent child support payments, participate in the job market, and maintain family relationships

Incarceration and Paternal Involvement among Non-resident White, African American and Latino Fathers

This paper examines the consequences of incarceration for non-resident White, Latino, and African American fathers’ contact with children and their formal and informal child support agreements three years after the child’s birth. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, fathers’ current incarceration is found to present serious obstacles to maintaining contact with children, as well as to interfere with the establishment of informal but not formal financial support agreements with mothers. The effects of past incarceration, however, vary significantly by race and ethnicity. Fathers’ recent and past incarceration is found to be strongly and negatively associated with the frequency of contact among non-Latino White fathers, while having little to no effect on contact for African American and Latino fathers. As African American and Latino families have been disproportionately affected by policies associated with mass incarceration, we speculate that they may attach less stigma to fathers’ incarceration than White families, perceive the criminal justice system as unjust, or exhibit greater resilience. Contributing to this interpretation is the additional finding that incarceration does little to undermine mothers’ trust of African American and Latino fathers, whereas it strongly erodes trust of White fathers. Implications for incarceration and family policy are discussed.

Air pollution and exacerbations of bronchitis

A simple `diary' technique has been used in London and in other large towns to examine the relationship between daily changes in the condition of bronchitic patients and their environment. It has been shown that these changes are closely related to air pollution, as indicated by the concentrations of smoke or sulphur dioxide. There is some evidence that patients are more sensitive to the effects of pollution at the beginning than at the end of each winter. Comparative studies are now being made in London at five-year intervals to study any change in response following the definite reduction in smoke concentrations. Results indicate some decline in the response of patients to specified concentrations of sulphur dioxide, but in recent years there have been few days on which pollution has been high enough to produce any response