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Union Formation Among Men in the U.S.: Does Having Prior Children Matter?
Author(s) -
Stewart Susan D.,
Manning Wendy D.,
Smock Pamela J.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2003.00090.x
Subject(s) - cohabitation , demographic economics , affect (linguistics) , demography , psychology , marital status , fragile families and child wellbeing study , social psychology , economics , labour economics , developmental psychology , political science , sociology , population , communication , law
Our study investigates whether fatherhood, and specifically involvement with nonresident children, influence men's entrance into marital and cohabiting unions. Using the National Survey of Families and Households, our findings suggest that neither resident nor nonresident children affect men's chances of entering a new marriage, but nonresident children have a positive effect on cohabitation. The positive association between nonresident children and men's union formation is not uniform; instead, we find that it is involvement with nonresident children, specifically visitation, that enhances men's chances of forming new unions. Whereas women's obligations to children from prior unions represent a resource drain that lowers their chances of union formation, our analysis suggests that involved nonresident fathers are more likely to enter subsequent unions than other men.