Fathers and absent fathers: sociodemographic similarities in Britain and the United States.
Using data from the British Household Panel Survey and the National Survey of Families and Households in the United States, we present a sociodemographic profile of fathers and compare the determinants of absent fatherhood in each country. Although fatherhood has a younger profile in the United States, especially for blacks, predictors of fathers' residency with their children are remarkably similar in the two countries. In both countries, the strongest predictor of a father's absence is the parent's relationship to each other at the time of the child's birth. Policy implications of this finding are discussed.
Clarke
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Department of Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210, USA. cooksey.1@osu.edu
Cooksey
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EC
Verropoulou
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G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D002655:Child Custody / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010333:Paternal Deprivation; D011640:Public Policy; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data