Low-Income Fathers’ Influence on Children

Abstract

This article examines what we know about how low-income fathers matter for children. The authors first provide a theoretical background about how parents generally (and fathers more specifically) are expected to influence children’s development and well-being. The authors note the importance of considering differences across children’s age, gender, and race/ethnicity; and they identify key methodological challenges in this area. Then, they summarize the literature on residential fathers and child well-being, finding that greater involvement has been linked to better outcomes for children; however, much of this research has been conducted on more socioeconomically advantaged samples. For fathers who live away from their children, child support payments appear to improve children’s outcomes, but the benefits of father-child interaction are much less clear and likely depend on the quality of the interaction and the characteristics of fathers. Overall, the authors conclude that low-income fathers can have a positive influence on children’s well-being, but the evidence about the population overall is rather weak.