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Title: Signing Up New Fathers: Do Paternity Establishment Initiatives Increase Marriage, Parental Investment, and Child Well-Being?

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2013

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Abstract: With nearly half of U.S. births occurring out of wedlock, understanding how parents navigate their relationship 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 joint child investment against interaction with each other. My empirical results show that increases in paternity establishment are partially driven by reductions in parental marriage. Although unmarried fathers invest more in their children along some dimensions, the overall effects on father involvement and child welfare are either negative or zero.

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Authors: Rossin-Slater, Maya

Publisher: University of California, Santa Barbara

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Family and Marriage

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