The context of family life has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Today, over 40 percent of children in the U.S. are born to unmarried parents, up from only 5 percent in 1960. My research tries to understand why this change is happening and what it means for parents, children and...

As maternal incarceration may help, harm, or have no effect on child wellbeing, increases in the risk of maternal imprisonment are relevant to scholars interested in both mass imprisonment and the forces that shape inequalities in child wellbeing. Unfortunately, with the exception of a few...

The present study examined the longitudinal associations among supportive coparenting and father engagement during infancy and mother-child attachment at age three within an at-risk sample (N= 1371), using secondary data from Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) study. Mothers reported on...

This paper investigates whether the health of children affects the likelihood that their parents divorce. Using data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey, the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, and the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study, I find that low birth weight...

We quantify the lasting effects of childhood health and economic circumstances on adult health and earnings, using data from a birth cohort that has been followed from birth into middle age. We find, controlling for parents' incomes, educations and social status, that children who experience...

This paper investigates the channels through which maternal employment affects childhood obesity. We use time diaries and interview responses from the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics which combine information on children's time allocation and mother's labor...