Partner Incarceration and Financial Support from Kin

Abstract

Incarceration can exacerbate economic hardships for families. Although families may need financial support from kin during this financially destabilizing time, some research indicates that partner incarceration diminishes the availability of support. Studies have focused on perceptions, but no study has examined actual support received. This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( N = 3,792) to show that partner incarceration is linked to a higher probability of receiving financial support and to receiving larger amounts of support. This provides encouraging evidence that women can rely on kin when partners are incarcerated, but it stands in contrast to previous research. Thus, this study also considers the apparent contradiction between women’s perceptions and the support they actually receive. These results provide suggestive evidence that women with incarcerated partners are more likely than other women to exhaust support, or use up all the financial support their kin can give.