Recent scholarship has begun to investigate the consequences of instability in the family over a period of time, as compared to examining family status at a particular point in time (Fomby & Cherlin, 2007; Osborne & McLanahan, 2007; Wu & Martinson, 1993; Wu & Thomson, 2001). This body of research has...

This study examined the developmental pathways from children’s family environment to school readiness within an at-risk sample (N = 1,701). Measures of the family environment (maternal parenting behaviors and maternal mental health) across early childhood were related to children’s observed...

We use data from the Fragile Families Study (N=1975) to examine the relationship between mothers’ partnership changes and parenting behavior during the first five years of their child’s life. We compare coresidential and dating transitions and recent and more distal transitions. We also...

We use data from the Fragile Families Study (N = 1,370) to examine child behavioral problems among children born to cohabiting and married parents who remain together until the child is age 3. The primary objective of the analysis is to determine how much of the difference in child outcomes at...

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine associations between first-year maternal employment and child outcomes for 3-year-old white, Black, and Hispanic children. We find that first-year maternal employment is associated with lower vocabulary scores for white,...

Nearly a third of all births in the United States today occur to parents who are not legally married. The proportions are even higher among poor and minority populations, 40% among Hispanics, and 70% among blacks (Ventura et al. 1995). Out-of-wedlock childbearing is occurring with increasing...