Subsequent Fatherhood: Timing and Circumstances

Cornell University Ithaca, Ithaca NY

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Abstract

The specific aim of the proposed project is to enhance our understanding of male fertility, by studying the timing of nd circumstances affecting subsequent (second and higher parity) births among men who are fathers. We will examine six outcomes: the completed number of children born, as well as births that are closely-spaced, unwanted births, births outside of marriage, births in a high-conflict relationship, and births to multiple partners. The proposed project will incorporate an ecological and life-course perspective, which posits that subsequent male fertility behaviors will be influenced by factors from multiple domains, including characteristics of individuals, their families, their partners, their children, their communities, and social policies, The four stages of the proposed project will produce important information about: the process of childbearing among males compared to females (Stage 1 ); the factors influencing subsequent fertility among fathers, with a particular focus on socioeconomic status, demographic and policy characteristics (Stage 2), as well as on the role of men's relationships with their partners and children (Stage 3); and the occurrence of multiple simultaneous positive or negative fatherhood outcomes (Stage 4). We propose to use five data files for different components of the proposed analyses, including the National Survey of Adolescent Males (1995), the National Survey of Family Growth (2002), the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 sohort, the father surveys from the Fragile Family and Child Well-Being Study, and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. Analyses will include discrete-time event history analyses to model the transition to a subsequent birth and to compare the transition to births in different circumstances, as well as Iogit and multinomial Iogit analyses to assess the influence of multiple domains on the different circumstances of subsequent fatherhood. Analyses will be conducted separately among critical sub-populations, including gender and multivariate comparisons by father's race/ethnicity, age, parity, socioeconomic status, and historical time period. Both the research and policy communities will benefit from empirical research designed to expand out understanding of family building from the male perspective.