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Low-income mothers and families rely on a number of support systems, both public and private, to survive. Private support through doubling up (also known as extended or shared households) is relatively common but little longitudinal research has studied doubling up and even less has looked at families with young children. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study we examine the prevalence, composition, and patterns of transition of doubling up among families with young children over time, the economic value of doubling up, and the association between the Great Recession and doubling up. We find that doubling up is a very important form of private support; Nearly 1 out of 2 mothers has doubled up by the time her child is 9 years old and the estimated value of doubling is up is $4550 per year. There are large differences in terms of doubling up by mother's relationship status; married mothers are far less likely to double up than mothers with other relationship statuses. With relation to the Great Recession, we also find that the unemployment, foreclosure and mortgage delinquency rates are associated with increased odds of doubling up but there are few differences in the association by mother's relationship status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use data from the first wave of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 8,268) to examine parents? perceptions of paternal responsibility, with particular attention to gender differences. We find that fathers are likely to perceive obligations and rights as independent concerns, whereas mothers are likely to see them as linked. Compared with their married counterparts, fathers who are no longer romantically involved with their partners are more likely to think that fathers have rights to see and make decisions about their children, whereas mothers are less likely to say that fathers have these rights. Mothers with high levels of education and income are likely to see nonresident fathers as having both obligations and rights, whereas fathers with high levels of education and income are likely to minimize their obligations and rights. African American respondents place more emphasis on nonresident fathers? obligations and rights than White and Hispanic respondents do. Respondents who were born outside the United States are less likely than native-born respondents to think that fathers should pay child support. Together these findings suggest that men and women have different perceptions of paternal responsibility. Socioeconomic status, race, and immigration also play an important role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although most non-marital childbearing in the U.S. involves mothers with low educational attainment, a small but growing share of single mothers are college educated. The factors that explain non-marital childbearing may differ for this group of mothers since they are unlikely to be affected by lack of marriageable men, poor opportunities for women or welfare benefits, the causes often cited to explain non-marital childbearing generally. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Survey, a longitudinal birth cohort study of 5,000 children born between 1998 and 2000, to evaluate three possible explanations for non-marital childbearing among the twenty percent of unmarried mothers who have some college education. The arguments about why these women become single mothers include the claims that they (1) feel pressured by their biological clocks, (2) hold negative views of marriage and men, and (3) have problems finding suitable marriage partners. We find some support for each of these explanations. We also find that the applicability of these explanations varies by race and ethnicity. All three explanations appear to have some merit for white, non-Hispanic mothers, among whom college education and single status are associated with placing less value on marriage as well as with increased odds of racing the biological clock and of having a male partner who has a major problem like drug addition or who does not treat the mother well. For highly educated African-American and Hispanic mothers, however, difficulty finding equally well-educated partners is the most persuasive explanation for non-marital childbearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]