Child Support and Subsequent Nonmarital Fertility With a New Partner. (January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kim, Yeongmin; Cancian, Maria; Meyer, Daniel R.
• Is Part Of: Journal of family issues. Volume 38:Number 2(2017)
• Page Start: 151
• Page End: 176
• Publication Date: 2017-01
• Subjects: child support -- relationship formation -- nonmarital fertility -- multiple-partner fertility -- single parents; Families -- United States -- Periodicals; Family -- Periodicals; 306.8505
• DOI: 10.1177/0192513X14565701
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0192-513X

Abstract

When a parent has another child with a new partner, a significant effect on parents and children is likely, making factors associated with multiple-partner fertility of interest to policy makers. For single mothers, one potential policy-relevant factor influencing their subsequent fertility with a new partner is child support income. However, the direction and magnitude of any effect is not well-established. This study documents the simple negative relationship between child support and nonmarital fertility with a new partner in our sample of low-income unmarried mothers. We then take advantage of a policy experiment that resulted in randomly assigned differences in child support income to investigate its effects. We find no support for a negative causal relationship between child support receipt and nonmarital fertility with a new partner, instead finding suggestive evidence that mothers with more child support income are slightly more likely to have a subsequent nonmarital birth with a new partner.