Non-residential Fatherhood and Child Involvement:Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study

Fifteen per cent of British babies are now born to parents who are neithercohabiting nor married. Little is known about non-residential fatherhood thatcommences with the birth of a child. Here, we use the Millennium Cohort Studyto examine a number of aspects of this form of fatherhood. Firstly, we considerthe extent to which these fathers were involved with or acknowledged theirchild at the time of the birth. Secondly, we identify the characteristics thatdifferentiate parents who continue to live apart from those who move intogether. Thirdly, for the fathers who moved in with the mother and their childwe enquire whether they differ in the extent of their engagement in family lifecompared with fathers who have been living with the mother since birth.Finally, for fathers who were living apart from their child when the child was 9months old we assess the extent to which they were in contact, contributed totheir maintenance and were involved in their child’s life at this time.[...]