Factors Associated With Multiple‐Partner Fertility Among Fathers

Abstract

This article uses a sample of 1,731 fathers aged 16 – 45 from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth to identify factors associated with multiple‐partner fertility. Almost one third of fathers who reported multiple‐partner fertility did so across a series of nonmarital relationships, and nonmarital‐only multiple‐partner fertility has been increasing across recent cohorts of men. Being older, having a first sexual experience or a first child at a young age, and fathering a child outside of marriage or cohabitation are associated with greater odds of multiple‐partner fertility, whereas having additional children with the first birth mother is associated with reduced odds. Black, Hispanic, and young fathers have especially high odds of experiencing multiple‐partner fertility across a series of nonmarital relationships.

Nonresident Fathers and Formal Child Support: Evidence from the CPS, NSFG, and SIPP

“…For instance, research on complex ties across households draws attention to multiplepartner fertility, which has been measured using a variety of methods and data sources. Scholars have relied solely on men's fertility histories (e.g., Guzzo and Furstenberg 2007;Manlove et al 2008), have used reports of fertility histories with data from both men and women (Harknett and Knab 2007;Sinkewicz and Garfinkel 2009;Turney and Carlson 2011), and have merged administrative data on men and women (Meyer, Cancian, and Cook 2005) in order to identify fathers who have had children with multiple women. If the quality of the data on fathers varies across datasets, with some data sources being more likely than others to have identified the most disadvantaged nonresident fathers; then our estimates of other complex family behaviors, such as multiple-partner fertility, and the implications of these behaviors, will be affected as well.…”

Social policies, separation, and second birth spacing in Western Europe

“…We focus particularly on educational differences in the progression to a second child. This focus is motivated by prior studies showing large differences in multi-partnered fertility by education, in particular for the United States (Carlson and Furstenberg 2006;Furstenberg 2007a, 2007b;Manlove et al 2008;Scott et al 2013;Thomson et al 2014). Table 5 displays the results from interaction models.…”

“…Empirical evidence from the United States has indeed shown a strong negative educational gradient in multi-partnered fertility. Black men and women with less education, as well as those who have their first children in their teenage years, are prone to have children with different partners (Carlson and Furstenberg 2006;Furstenberg 2007a, 2007b;Manlove et al 2008;Scott et al 2013). Evidence from Europe on this topic remains sparse, but a comparative study for Australia, the United States, Norway, and Sweden which addressed the likelihood of women having a second or third child with a new parent also finds a strong and negative educational gradient in multi-partnered fertility in the Nordic countries of Europe (Thomson et al 2014).…”

“…It is also linked to research that has investigated multipartnered fertility -that is, the question of whether men and women have children with different partners across their life courses (Carlson and Furstenberg 2006;Furstenberg 2007a, 2007b;Manlove et al 2008;Scott et al 2013; Thomson et al2014). Unlike prior studies, our paper focuses specifically on second birth spacing and, as a corollary, the transition to the second biological child after union disruption.…”

Fathers’ Roles in the Care and Development of Their Children: The Role of Pediatricians

“…79,80 Age at first sexual experience, age at birth of the first child, and relationship status of partners are also indicators of multipartner fertility. 80,81 Men whose first children are born outside of marriage are 3 times as likely to experience multipartner fertility than are men who are married to the mother of their first child at the time of birth. 79 Children are affected by their fathers' multipartner fertility, because it leads to complex family structures and diminished resources for each child.…”