Parenting from a distance: The effects of paternal characteristics on contact between nonresidential fathers and their children

Abstract

Changes in marital and fertility behavior have influenced the role of father for many men. We use data from the first two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households to examine various sociodemographic, situational, and attitudinal characteristics that might influence the degree of contact between nonresidential fathers and their minor children. We tap two different dimensions of distance parenting and find that although several variables influence both visiting and talking on the telephone or writing letters, some factors (the presence of multiple children in a household) predict visiting only, while others (child's age and gender) predict only verbal/written contact. Similarly, some of the life-course decisions made by fathers appear to crowd out their involvement with nonresidential children, whereas other decisions reinforce their parenting behavior.

Untraditional caring arrangements among parents living apart

“…Some studies indicate that father sole custody is more common among previously married than previously cohabiting parents, and more common among parents who had been married for a long time than those who had been married for a shorter time (Cancian and Meyer 1998;Juby, Le Bourdais and Marcil-Gratton 2005). However, the relationship between shared residence and the parents' marriage is less clear, although some studies suggest that non-resident fathers who were formally married to the child's mother spend more time with them after break-up than those who were cohabiting (Cooksey and Craig 1998). In Norway, Jensen andClausen (1997, 1999) found that, on average, previously cohabiting non-resident fathers spent less time with their children than those who had been formally married, while Skevik (2006) discovered no such association and concluded that cohabitation appears to bind men to their children as much as marriage does.…”

“…Studies of shared residence and father sole custody also vary in terms of the determinants included in the analyses, depending on the theoretical interest of the researchers and the information available in their data (compare, for instance, Cooksey and Craig 1998;Manning, Steward andSmock 2003, Skevik 2006). However, important factors in many studies include the parents' socioeconomic resources, their former and current family obligations, their health, and also more practical considerations, such as the distance between their homes and the father's work flexibility.…”

“…The association between parents' new family obligations and fathers' involvement with biological children from a previous union has been much debated by researchers (for instance, Furstenberg and Nord 1985;Cooksey and Craig 1998;Manning and Smock 1999;Manning, Steward and Smock 2003;Skevik 2006), particularly whether so-called "serial parenting" is the rule for men, implying that fathers tend to invest in new families at the expense of children from former relationships (Furstenberg and Nord 1985;Manning and Smock 1999). Using longitudinal data, Juby, Billette, Laplante and Bourdais (2007) found that a father's new union formation reduced his visitation with non-resident children, but only when it closely followed separation, that is, before the father had established a structured relationship with his non-resident children.…”

Diversification des trajectoires familiales des Canadiens âgés de demain et conséquences prévisibles sur le réseau de soutien

“…Elles ont montré l'accroissement de la proportion d'enfants qui, de plus en plus tôt dans la vie, voient leurs parents se séparer et qui connaissent par la suite la vie en famille monoparentale et, pour plusieurs, la vie en famille recomposée (Bumpass et Lu, 2000 ;Festy, 1994 ;Marcil-Gratton, 1998). Enfin, elles ont tenté de mesurer les effets de la désinstitutionnalisa-tion et de l'instabilité croissante de la vie conjugale sur les liens et les relations que les pères entretiennent avec leurs enfants (Cooksey et Craig, 1998 ;Le Bourdais, Juby et Marcil-Gratton, 2002). Dans la foulée de ces études, un large champ de recherche qui emprunte à la psychologie, à la sociologie, à l'épidémiologie aussi bien qu'à la démographie a tenté de cerner l'effet des bouleversements de la vie familiale des enfants sur leur développement cognitif et émotionnel.…”

Distance Parenting – Implications for Social Work Practice

“…A man's age at the birth of his first child and geographical distance from children also has an impact on their relationship. Cooksey and Craig (1998) found that physical distance from children reduced the frequency of father visits. Also, those fathers staying less than 100 miles from their children were more likely to visit and be more involved in their children's daily activities than those who lived further away.…”