Article
Nonresident Fathers’ Spending on Children: Child Support Payments and Housing Instability
Journal of Family Issues
(2020)
Abstract
Previous research finds that fathers’ monetary contributions are associated with housing instability, but it is unclear whether effects are similar across more and less severe types of housing instability. In this research, we investigate how nonresident fathers’ monetary contributions are linked to having skipped rent or mortgage payments, moving in with others (“doubling up”) in the last year, moving residences more than once, or having been evicted or homeless. We use data on a population of at-risk families using the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study (FFCWS) (n = 1,919). We estimate logistic regression models that control for socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Both formal and informal financial support from fathers was significantly associated with lower mother/child housing instability. Housing instability appears to diminish more rapidly with greater informal support than with greater formal support, but the confidence intervals for these estimates overlap, making them indistinguishable.
Keywords
- father–child relationship,
- household living arrangements,
- child support,
- housing instability,
- single parents
Disciplines
Publication Date
2020
DOI
10.1177/0192513X19894362
Citation Information
Lewis, P., & Kornrich, S. (2020). Nonresident fathers’ spending on children: Child support payments and housing instability. Journal of Family Issues, 41(9), 1470–1497. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X19894362