Health status and behaviors of unwed fathers

Abstract

This article focuses on the well-being and capacities of 1759 new fathers in seven cities using data from the Fragile Families Study. Comparisons are made between married (N=478) and unmarried fathers (N=1281). With the unwed fathers, we compare those who are cohabiting, who are stably romantically involved but not cohabiting, who are involved in an unstable romantic relationship, who are not romantically involved but friends, and who have no relationship with the mother. The six indicators of fathers' well-being capacities include physical health, depressive symptoms, drug and alcohol use, smoking, and physical abuse of the mother. These findings show that married fathers are more advantaged than unwed fathers vis-à-vis education, income, and age; they also are in better physical and mental health. Among the unwed fathers, those who are cohabiting are more advantaged and healthier than those who are not cohabiting, although the differences are not as great as those between married and unmarried fathers. Non-resident fathers who are romantically involved are similar in income, age and education to fathers who are not romantically involved but are friends, although the former are less likely than the latter to be using drugs, to be depressed or to have hit or slapped the mother. The fathers who are romantically involved in an unstable (i.e., off-and-on) relationship are less healthy than those in a more sustained romantic or cohabiting relationship. The fathers who have no relationship with the mother are most likely to exhibit unhealthy behaviors. About two percent of the married fathers, 3% of the unmarried cohabiting and stably romantically involved, 5% of the unstably romantically involved, 7% of the friends, and 11% of those with no relationship had hit or slapped the mother as reported by her. About one-half of the married fathers, a little over a third of the unwed fathers who are cohabiting, stably romantically involved or unstably romantically involved or friends, and only one-sixth of the fathers with no relationship have none of the six behaviors. In contrast, one-fifth of the unwed fathers with no relationship and one-eighth of the unstably romantically involved fathers have three or more of the six risky behaviors, as compared to one-tenth of the unwed fathers with involvement and 3% of the married fathers. Implications for welfare reform and child support are discussed.