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Title: To Tie the Knot or Not? How Parents Navigate Changes to the Relationship Contract Space

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2013

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Abstract: With over 40 percent of U.S. children born out-of-wedlock, understanding how parents navigate their legal relationship contract options is important. This paper examines the consequences of lowering the cost of paternity establishment a contract granting unmarried fathers partial parental rights and responsibilities within a framework where parents trade-off access to children with match quality. I show that the resulting increases in paternity establishment rates are partially driven by reductions in parental marriage rates. Although unmarried fathers become more involved with their children along some dimensions, the net effects on father involvement, family, and child welfare are either negative or zero.

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Authors: Rossin-Slater, Maya

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Institution: Columbia University

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Publisher Location: New York

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Family and Marriage, Fertility and Mortality

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