Does Being Married Matter? Exploring Father Involvement Across Marital Status in a Sample of Low-Income Fathers

Background and Purpose: Many fatherhood programs are coupled with marriage promotion activities.  The assumption underlying these efforts is that married fathers will be more invested in relationships with their children’s mothers and thus more available to and involved with their children.  Previous studies suggest that this may not always be the case and that being married is not necessarily associated with more father involvement. In addition, low-income couples may be less likely to marry and more likely to cohabitate due to a number of financial and social pressures.The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between father involvement and marital status in racially diverse sample of low-income fathers.

Methods:  Using baseline data from  low-income fathers enrolled in a Healthy Marriage and Responsible Father Program (N=676) we explored self-reported father involvement across three measures of father involvement: frequency of activities with children [day-to-day activities], frequency of money given to or spent on the child or child’s mother [financial contribution], and the Inventory of Father Involvement which measures self-assessment of father involvement. Fathers were categorized into four groups: married, in a committed relationship, single, and previously married (divorced, separated, widowed).  Multiple linear regression models were used to examine father involvement scores among different marital status groups after adjusting for race and age as suggested by literature. Categorical variables were compared using Chi-square tests.

Results:  African American fathers were more likely to be in committed relationships or married compared to other races, while white fathers were more likely to be single or previously married compared to other races (p=0.0037). Fathers who were previously married were significantly older (p= <.0001). Overall, white fathers reported the lowest levels of involvement across the three measures compared to other racial groups and younger fathers had higher scores on across the three measures.   After controlling for race and age, marital status was significantly associated with all three measures of father involvement , with fathers in committed  relationships or married reporting higher levels of involvement than single and previously married (divorced, separated, widowed) (all p-values <0.0001). No significant difference in father involvement existed between fathers in committed relationship or married, or between single fathers and fathers who were separated.  Interactions between race, marital status, and age, were not significant in this model.

Conclusions and Implications: Prior research with similar populations suggests that coparenting relationships and residency status of fathers is more strongly associated with father involvement than marital status; however much of this research has focused on residential vs. non residential fathers and on involvement of previously married (i.e., divorced, separated fathers. This study contributes to our understanding of father involvement among a racially diverse sample of low-income fathers across marital status, age, and race.  Programs serving fathers may better serve families by encouraging healthy relationships by focusing on skills needed to maintain a positive coparenting relationship either within or outside of the formal marriage and on working with previously married fathers to maintain positive relational ties.