Multiple-partner Fertility Research Articles

Preferred and Actual Interbirth Intervals in Women With Multiple-Partner Fertility

Mothers with multiple-partner fertility have longer interbirth intervals (IBIs) than mothers with single-partner fertility, suggesting that partner change hinders achieving the preferred IBI. Previous studies have, however, overlooked possible differences in preferred IBI between these two groups. Using data from 724 Finnish mothers, we investigated how partner change between the first and second child moderated the association between actual and preferred IBI. Mothers with multiple-partner fertility had 54 months longer IBIs than mothers with single-partner fertility. The association between actual and preferred IBI was weaker in mothers with multiple-partner fertility. Our results further indicated that this difference could partly be explained by the mothers’ deliberate actions, such as contraceptive use and abortions among mothers with multi-partner fertility. Family planning support could gain from mapping out the reasons among women with a partner change for postponing otherwise desired pregnancies and offering increased support in these areas.

Lower-Income Nonresident Fathers’ Self-Perceptions About Their Parenting Quality and Relationships With Children

Research on fathering has substantially increased but we still know relatively little about whether and how fathers’ own perspectives on their parenting differ across a variety of family situations. We estimate associations between nonresident fathers’ family types and nonresident fathers’ perceptions of the quality of their parenting and their relationships with their children, using data from the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration program on lower-income nonresident fathers ( n = 5,835) and logistic regressions. High-quality parenting is more likely to be reported by nonresident fathers with multiple-partner fertility and both resident and nonresident children than either those with multiple-partner fertility and only nonresident children or those with single-partner fertility. High-quality relationships with children are more likely to be reported by those with single-partner fertility than those with multiple-partner fertility. These findings suggest the importance of resident children in fathers’ perceptions of their parenting and highlight the difficulties of parenting across multiple households.

The association between intimate partner violence and multiple partner fertility among Colombian women

AbstractObjectiveThis study assessed the relationship between multiple partner fertility (MPF) and intimate partner violence (IPV) and whether such relationship differed by children's age.BackgroundIPV negatively impacts the well‐being of women and children. Some risk factors for IPV, such as financial insecurity and young age, have been identified. Much less is known about the extent to which MPF, an increasingly common experience for women in a wide range of countries, is associated with an increased risk of IPV.MethodWe used data of mothers with at least two children from the Colombian 2015 Demographic and Health Surveys (N = 16,621). We estimated a series of logistic regression models to examine the association between MPF and IPV; our models controlled for various measures of mothers' and households' characteristics.ResultsThe prevalence of IPV was higher among mothers with MPF than mothers with single partner fertility (SPF). MPF was associated with an increased risk of IPV, but this relationship was only significant for younger mothers (aged 25–29 years). The association between MPF and IPV did not differ by the age of the youngest child.ConclusionYounger mothers with MPF are at a higher risk of experiencing IPV than younger mothers with SPF.ImplicationsIPV programming would benefit from targeted interventions aimed at young mothers with MPF and their children. More research exploring the dynamics of family complexity and IPV is needed.

Fathers' Multiple-Partner Fertility and Children's Educational Outcomes.

Fathers' multiple-partner fertility (MPF) is associated with substantially worse educational outcomes for children. We focus on children in fathers' second families that are nuclear: households consisting of a man, a woman, their joint children, and no other children. We analyze outcomes for almost 75,000 Norwegian children, all of whom lived in nuclear families until at least age 18. Children with MPF fathers are more likely than other children from nuclear families to drop out of secondary school (24% vs. 17%) and less likely to obtain a bachelor's degree (44% vs. 51%). These gaps remain substantial-at 4 and 5 percentage points, respectively-after we control for child and parental characteristics, such as income, wealth, education, and age. Resource competition with the children in the father's first family does not explain the differences in educational outcomes. We find that the association between a father's previous childless marriage and his children's educational outcomes is similar to that between a father's MPF and his children's educational outcomes. Birth order does not explain these results. This similarity suggests that selection is the primary explanation for the association between fathers' MPF and children's educational outcomes.

“My Favorite One Is the One Who Is There Right Now”: Socioeconomic Differences in Support Exchanges within Stepfamilies

Abstract Family scholars have raised concerns that the reshaping of American families over the last decades might have changed kin support networks and resource sharing within families. Much of this concern stems from documented socioeconomic inequalities in exposure to divorce and separation, formation of new marital or cohabiting unions, and multiple-partner fertility. There is a dearth of research, however, on whether and how the experience of different family structures is shaped by socioeconomic status. This study draws on in-depth interviews with 47 older stepparents in order to investigate exchanges of support with biological and stepchildren in different socioeconomic contexts. Results suggest that scarcity of resources among socioeconomically disadvantaged stepparents and the instability of their (and their children’s) social and economic environments promote a specific type of supportive tie—contingent ties. This study shows that ambiguity and contingency in the establishment of supportive relationships with children may represent an adaptive, healthy, and reasonable strategy among older stepparents with scarce resources.

Determinants of multiple partner fertility among males in Uganda: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundMultiple-partner fertility is a relatively new area of study, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study focused on identifying determinants of multiple partner fertility among males in Uganda.MethodThe assessment was carried out using a logistic regression model and secondary data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey.ResultsAmong the males, 42% had children with multiple partners. Older age, being Muslim, and being divorced or separated increased the likelihood of multiple partner fertility whereas residing in the Western region, reporting an age at first sex above 19 years and being married or cohabiting reduced the likelihood. Increase in number of wives or partners and lifetime sex partners resulted into a higher likelihood of multiple partner fertility.ConclusionThere is need to come up with policies and programs aimed at increasing the age at first sex so as to reduce the likelihood of multiple partner fertility among males in Uganda. Government and other stakeholders such as cultural and religious institutions should sensitize and educate the masses on the negative outcomes of having children with multiple partners and promote fidelity for those in marriage. There is also need to increase modern contraceptive use and coverage.

Lifetime parenthood in the context of single- and multiple-partner fertility.

The proportion of life spent caring for dependent children is a defining feature of life courses. This study uses Swedish register data to analyze the period of life spent as parents to children no older than 18 as a salient difference between single- and multiple-partner fertility trajectories. Individuals who have children with more than one partner spend a much longer time as parents to dependent children than those who have children with one partner, on average 8.2 more years among men and 6.2 more years among women. Cross-partner birth spacing is a more powerful proximate cause of this gap than completed fertility. We argue that an extended time parenthood is part and parcel to multi-partner fertility and discuss implications of this.

Regional Variations in Multiple-Partner Fertility in Canada

Using retrospective biographical data from the 2011 GSS, we examine regional variations in multiple-partner fertility in Canada. We document its prevalence across regions from both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal perspective. Furthermore, we analyse regional disparities in the family trajectories that lead to multiple-partner fertility (MPF), focusing on the conditions surrounding the first birth. While we find no significant differences across regions in the occurrence of multiple-partner fertility among fathers, our analysis shows striking variations in the prevalence and timing of MPF among mothers. Women living in the Atlantic provinces, in the Prairies and, to a lesser degree, in British Columbia experience a higher rate of multiple-partner fertility than those living in Ontario and Quebec. Regional differences in the divergent pathways leading to MPF partly contribute to explaining the observed variation across the country. Giving birth at young ages and in non-residential partnerships is associated with a higher likelihood of multiple-partner fertility, while repartnering after the break-up of the union in which the first child is born is more common in provinces where it is less prevalent.

Multiple-Partner Fertility and Cohort Change in the Prevalence of Half-Siblings.

The transformation of the American family under the second demographic transition has created more opportunities for parents to have children with multiple partners, but data limitations have hampered prevalence estimates of multiple-partner fertility from the perspective of children. This study uses nationally representative data from the 1979 and 1997 cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth to examine cohort change in children's exposure to multiple-partner fertility. We find that one in five children in the 1979 cohort had at least one half-sibling by their 18th birthday, and the prevalence grew to more than one in four children by the 1997 cohort. A strong educational gradient in exposure to half-siblings persists across both cohorts, but large racial/ethnic disparities have narrowed over time. Using demographic decomposition techniques, we find that change in the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition of the U.S. population cannot explain the growth in exposure to half-siblings. We conclude by discussing the shifting patterns of fertility and family formation associated with sibling complexity and considering the implications for child development and social stratification.

The Role of Neighborhood Disadvantage and Family Structure During Adolescence in Young Adults’ Experiences of Multiple Partner Fertility (MPF)

Families in the United States have become more complex, with an increasing number of individuals having children with multiple partners, called multiple partner fertility (MPF). MPF has significant negative consequences for the well-being of adults and children. Understanding the correlates of MPF, particularly how familial and community constructs affect the fertility outcomes of youth, has important implications for prevention and intervention. However, while many studies have examined these constructs, few have looked at them together. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; N = 8,678), this study uses a prospective design to examine how family structure and level of community disadvantage experienced by youth predict MPF in young adulthood. Using multilevel, mixed effects modeling, we find that family structure appears to play a role in influencing the fertility outcomes of youth, more so than community poverty. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Multiple-Partner Fertility in the United States: A Demographic Portrait.

Multiple-partner fertility (MPF) occurs when a person has biological children with more than one partner. The 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a nationally representative panel study of individuals and households in the United States, is the first such survey to include a direct question about whether respondents are MPF parents. Understanding the prevalence of such families is important given the known socioeconomic correlates of MPF and the ramifications of entering MPF for both individuals and families. In this study, the new SIPP data are used to generate key benchmarks for a national sample, present subpopulation estimates, and describe the sample of adults with children by multiple partners.

Formerly Incarcerated Parents and Their Children.

The negative effects of incarceration on child well-being are often linked to the economic insecurity of formerly incarcerated parents. Researchers caution, however, that the effects of parental incarceration may be small in the presence of multiple-partner fertility and other family complexity. Despite these claims, few studies have directly observed either economic insecurity or the full extent of family complexity. We study parent-child relationships with a unique data set that includes detailed information about economic insecurity and family complexity among parents just released from prison. We find that stable private housing, more than income, is associated with close and regular contact between parents and children. Formerly incarcerated parents see their children less regularly in contexts of multiple-partner fertility and in the absence of supportive family relationships. Significant housing and family effects are estimated even after we control for drug use and crime, which are themselves negatively related to parental contact. The findings point to the constraints of material insecurity and the complexity of family relationships on the contact between formerly incarcerated parents and their children.

Paternal Multiple Partner Fertility and Environmental Chaos Among Unmarried Nonresident Fathers

ABSTRACTThis study examined the association between paternal multiple partner fertility (MPF; having children with two or more partners) and indicators of environmental chaos (partnership instability, residential instability, work stability, material hardship, and perceived social support) among unmarried, nonresident fathers. Survey data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 873) were used to compare unmarried nonresident fathers who experienced MPF to those who had children with one partner. Results show that paternal MPF is associated with most indicators of environmental chaos (greater partnership instability, residential instability, work instability, material hardship) but not social support. Results suggest that fathers who experience MPF face challenges beyond those of other nonresident fathers. Policies and interventions should address aspects of instability and hardship that are unique to paternal MPF in order to encourage fathers’ positive contributions to children and families. Directions for future research are discussed.

Fathers' Imprisonment and Mothers' Multiple-Partner Fertility.

We consider the intersection between two striking U.S. trends: dramatic increases in the imprisonment of fathers and increases in the proportion of mothers who have children with more than one partner (multiple-partner fertility, or MPF). Using matched longitudinal administrative data that provide unusually comprehensive and accurate information about the occurrence and timing of imprisonment, fertility, and MPF for the population of the state of Wisconsin, we consider the relationship between paternal imprisonment and MPF among unwed mothers. Employing discrete-time event history analysis with multinomial logistic regression, we model the occurrence and timing of the mother’s second birth, distinguishing between a birth with the same father and a birth with a different father, and distinguishing between current imprisonment and a history of imprisonment. We find that current imprisonment is associated with an increased likelihood of MPF and a decreased likelihood of fertility with the same father (compared with no additional birth) and that a history of imprisonment is associated with increased MPF in some models but not in our preferred model. To control for unobserved heterogeneity among mothers and assess the evidence of a causal effect of fathers’ imprisonment, we also employ the case-time-control method, a fixed-effects method for the analysis of nonrepeated events. Results suggest that fathers’ current imprisonment may increase mothers’ MPF. Policy implications are discussed.

Child Support and Subsequent Nonmarital Fertility With a New Partner

When a parent has another child with a new partner, a significant effect on parents and children is likely, making factors associated with multiple-partner fertility of interest to policy makers. For single mothers, one potential policy-relevant factor influencing their subsequent fertility with a new partner is child support income. However, the direction and magnitude of any effect is not well-established. This study documents the simple negative relationship between child support and nonmarital fertility with a new partner in our sample of low-income unmarried mothers. We then take advantage of a policy experiment that resulted in randomly assigned differences in child support income to investigate its effects. We find no support for a negative causal relationship between child support receipt and nonmarital fertility with a new partner, instead finding suggestive evidence that mothers with more child support income are slightly more likely to have a subsequent nonmarital birth with a new partner.

Seeking Romance in the Crosshairs of Multiple-Partner Fertility

Using longitudinal ethnographic data on low-income rural and urban mostly single mothers, I explore the romance-seeking behaviors of women whose intimate relationships are characterized by multiple-partner fertility (MPF). MPF involves mothers and/or their love interests having biological children with other partners, frequently in nonmarital, transient unions. Romance comprises mothers’ feelings and social interactions related to being chosen, erotic love, and adulation of the other. Findings indicate most mothers selectively engaged in one of four types of romance-seeking behaviors: casual, illusionist, pragmatic, or strategic. Mothers’ romantic actions are associated with their desires to have loving experiences outside the challenges of daily life in poverty and its corollary uncertainty. Moreover, mothers involved in the most complex forms of MPF openly compete with other women for “first wife” status in a stratified partnering system called rostering—a term coined by respondents in the ethnographies reported here. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

New Partners, More Kids: Multiple-Partner Fertility in the United States.

Declining rates of marriage and overall increases in union instability, combined with high levels of unintended and nonmarital fertility, create the possibility for parents to have children with more than one partner, called multiple-partner fertility, or MPF. The unique characteristics of families with MPF present data and other logistical challenges to researchers studying the phenomenon. Drawing from recent studies and updated data, I present new estimates of MPF that show that about 13 percent of men aged 40 to 44 and 19 percent of women aged 41 to 49 have children with more than one partner, with a higher prevalence among the disadvantaged. Compared to parents with two or more children by only one partner, people with MPF become parents at younger ages, largely with unintended first births, and often do so outside of marriage. This article touches on the implications of MPF for families and concludes by discussing the theoretical difficulties in studying MPF and the challenges it presents to public policy.

Mass Incarceration, Family Complexity, and the Reproduction of Childhood Disadvantage

In this article we examine the link between family complexity—measured by noncustodial parenthood and multiple-partner fertility—and incarceration. In 2012, close to 2.6 million children, or roughly one in twenty-five minors, had a parent in jail or prison. The risk of having a parent currently or ever incarcerated is disproportionately concentrated among black children and children of high school dropouts, many of whom are noncustodial parents. Variation in question wording, differences in length of exposure to parental incarceration, and the measurement of residential parenthood in household-based sample surveys converge to produce different estimates of race and class inequality in having a parent currently or ever incarcerated, when compared to similar estimates of parental incarceration from inmate surveys. Drawing on data from multiple sources and the development of a new method for the estimation of multiple-partner fertility among inmates, we consider how race and class inequality in parental incarceration may contribute to family complexity and the reproduction of childhood disadvantage.

Becoming a Single Parent

Using a longitudinal sample of 4,010 mothers and fathers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examine factors that predict whether children are living with both parents, only their mother, or only their father when the child is 3 years old. We considered parental characteristics and resources and couple\family-level characteristics and found that although many factors increased the odds of parents living together—including the financial resources of each parent, having a supportive relationship, and having a disability-free child—even more factors disproportionately increased the likelihood of either single fatherhood or single motherhood, including parents’ multiple-partner fertility and depression, mother’s drug use, and mother’s greater alcohol use. Our findings suggest that although most children living with a single parent live with their mothers, they are more likely to do so if their fathers exhibit problem behaviors, and more likely to live with their father if their mothers do so.

Low‐Income Mothers as “Othermothers” to Their Romantic Partners' Children: Women's Coparenting in Multiple Partner Fertility Relationships

In this article, we investigated low-income mothers' involvement in multiple partner fertility (MPF) relationships and their experiences as "othermothers" to their romantic partners' children from previous and concurrent intimate unions. Othermothering, as somewhat distinct from stepmothering, involves culturally-scripted practices of sharing parenting responsibilities with children's biological parents. We framed this investigation using this concept because previous research suggests that many low-income women practice this form of coparenting in their friend and kin networks. What is not apparent in this literature, however, is whether women unilaterally othermother their romantic partners' children from different women. How often and under what circumstances do women in nonmarital MPF intimate unions with men coparent their partners' children from other relationships? We explored this question using a modified grounded theory approach and secondary longitudinal ethnographic data on 256 low-income mostly unmarried mothers from the Three-City Study. Results indicated that 78% of the mothers had been or were involved in MPF unions and while most had othermothered the children of their friends and relatives, 89% indicated that they did not coparent their partners' children from any MPF relationship. Mothers' reasons for not doing so were embedded in: (a) gendered scripts around second families, or "casa chicas"; (b) the tenuous nature of pass-through MPF relationships; and (c) mothers' own desires for their romantic partners to child-swap. Implications of this research for family science and practice are discussed.