Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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 …

Racial And Gender Differences In Kin Support: A Mixed-Methods Study Of African American And Hispanic Couples, Clarisse Haxton, Kristen Harknett

Kristen Harknett

This article uses qualitative and quantitative data for a recent birth cohort from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study to compare kin support patterns between African Americans and Hispanics. It focuses on financial and housing support from grandparents and other kin during the transition to parenthood. Qualitative analysis (n = 122 parents) uncovers distinctions in the way African American and Hispanic parents discuss their family networks, with African Americans emphasizing relations with female kin and Hispanics emphasizing a more integrated system. Consistent with these findings, quantitative analysis (n = 2,472 mothers and n = 2,639 fathers) finds that compared …

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 …

Parenting Across Racial And Class Lines: Assortative Mating Patterns Of New Parents Who Are Married, Cohabiting, Dating, And No Longer Romantically Involved, Joshua Goldstein, Kristen Harknett

Kristen Harknett

In this article, we examine the assortative mating patterns of new parents who are married, cohabiting, romantically involved, and no longer romantically involved. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, we find that the effects of crossing racial and ethnic lines depend very much on whose perspective is taken. Crossing racial and ethnic lines has large effects on mothers' relationship status at the time of baby's birth but makes little difference from the fathers' perspective. Crossing educational attainment lines has little effect on relationship status at the time of baby's birth but same education-couples were slightly less …

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 …

Explaining Racial And Ethnic Differences In Marriage Among New, Unwed Parents, Kristen Harknett, Sara Mclanahan

Kristen Harknett

This article uses new data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study to examine the reasons why white, Mexican-American, and other Hispanic parents are approximately 2.5 times more likely than African-American parents to marry within the 30 months after a nonmarital birth. Combining Fragile Families microdata with 2000 U.S. Census data shows that marriage market conditions exert a large influence on marriage decisions, even among couples that already have formed a romantic relationship and had a child together. The findings also show that an undersupply of employed African-American men can explain a large portion of the racial and ethnic …