Patterns and predictors of coparenting after unmarried parents part.

Abstract

Nonmarital childbearing has increased dramatically during the past several decades, and the majority of unmarried couples will break up while their child is still young. As a result, many children will be raised by their biological parents living apart, ideally working together as effective coparents. In this article, we use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,193) to describe the trajectories of coparenting over 6 years following the end of a nonmarital relationship and to identify individual and interpersonal characteristics associated with better coparenting over time. Results from growth mixture models (GMMs) suggest that there are 4 primary trajectories of coparenting over time, and results from multinomial logit models show that couples' race/ethnicity, maternal health, and parents' relationship and fertility characteristics are the most salient predictors of coparenting trajectories. These results highlight the heterogeneity of parents' interaction vis-à-vis their common child after a nonmarital union dissolves and point to the challenges of supporting families and children amid high instability.