Digital Commons Network^™

Intimate Partner Violence In The Great Recession, Daniel Schneider, Kristen Harknett, Sara Mclanahan

Kristen Harknett

The Gap Between Births Intended And Births Achieved In 22 European Countries, 2004–07, Kristen Harknett, Caroline Sten Hartnett

Kristen Harknett

Education, Labor Markets, And The Retreat From Marriage, Kristen Harknett, Arielle Kuperberg

Kristen Harknett

Who Lacks Support? An Examination Of Mothers’ Personal Safety Nets, Kristen Harknett, Caroline Sten Hartnett

Kristen Harknett

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 12,140 person–waves) to identify characteristics associated with mothers’ having or lacking “personal safety net” support from family and friends. We focus on characteristics that are likely to increase the importance of having support available but may also interfere with the maintenance of supportive ties: poverty, poor physical and mental health, and challenging child rearing responsibilities. By capitalizing on distinctions among these types of personal disadvantages and among types of personal safety nets (financial, housing, child care, and emotional), we help to explain why personal disadvantages are associated …

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage And Perceptions Of Social Support Among New Parents, Kristen Harknett

Kristen Harknett

Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing survey (N = 4,211), this study examines neighborhood disadvantage and perceptions of instrumental support among mothers with young children. The authors find that (a) living in a disadvantaged neighborhood is associated with less instrumental support, particularly financial assistance, from family and friends; (b) residential stability is associated with stronger personal safety nets irrespective of neighborhood quality; and (c) mothers who move to a more disadvantaged neighborhood experience a small but significant decline in perceived instrumental support compared with those who do not move. In interpreting these results, the authors suggest …

Mate Availability And Unmarried Parent Relationships, Kristen Harknett

Kristen Harknett

Theoretically, a shortage of males in a local marriage market may influence the formation, quality, and trajectory of unmarried parent relationships. To test these hypotheses, I combine city-level sex ratio data from the U.S. Census with microdata on unmarried couples who recently had a child from the Fragile Families study. A shortage of men in a marriage market is associated with lower relationship quality for unmarried parents. Male shortages are associated with lower rates of marriage following a nonmarital birth, and this is in part because of the mediating influence of relationship quality. A shortage of men is not significantly …

Does Receiving An Earnings Supplement Affect Union Formation?: Estimating Effects For Program Participants Using Propensity Score Matching, Kristen Harknett

Kristen Harknett

This paper demonstrates a novel application of propensity score matching techniques: to estimate nonexperimental impacts on program participants within the context of an experimental research design. I examine the relationship between program participation, defined as qualifying for an earnings supplement by working full time, and marital union formation among low-income mothers in two Canadian provinces. I find that receipt of an earnings supplement substantially increased union formation in one province but not the other. A subgroup analysis based on propensities of program participation revealed that the positive effect on unions was concentrated among relatively disadvantaged participants. The techniques demonstrated in …

The Relationship Between Private Safety Nets And Economic Outcomes Among Single Mothers, Kristen Harknett

Kristen Harknett

This article examines the relationship between private safety nets and economic outcomes among 2,818 low-income single mothers in three U.S. counties in the 1990s. I define private safety nets as the potential to draw upon family and friends for material or emotional support if needed. Using a combination of survey and administrative records data collected for the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies, I find that human capital deficits, depressive symptoms, and low self-efficacy are associated with having less private safety net support, suggesting that social network disadvantages compound individual-level disadvantages. I also find that mothers with strong private safety nets …