Failing Our Fathers: Confronting the Crisis of Economically Vulnerable Nonresident Fathers

by Ronald B. Mincy, Monique Jethwani, Serena Klempin

Overview

Maligned as "deadbeat dads" or sexually and financially irresponsible inner-city fathers and overlooked in discussions of poverty and family policy, economically vulnerable nonresident fathers are a greatly misunderstood population.

Failing Our Fathers summarizes the most recent quantitative and qualitative research, and undertakes new analyses to fill in important gaps, to produce a comprehensive picture of who these fathers are, what types of relationships they have with their families and children, and the challenges they face meeting what their loved ones and taxpayers expect from them. The great majority of these men see their children on a regular basis, despite the financial, legal, and extra-legal barriers they face. Besides requiring fathers to support their children, we must enable them to do so by supplementing their earnings and supporting their co-parenting, in ways that parallel how we require and enable vulnerable single mothers to support their children. The book lays out specific reforms required to achieve this goal as well as tips for those resources for economically vulnerable nonresident fathers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199371143
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/05/2015
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Ronald B. Mincy, PhD, is the Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice at the Columbia University School of Social Work and Director of the Center for Research on Fathers, Children and Family Well-Being (CRFCFW). He is also a co-principal investigator of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Monique Jethwani-Keyser, PhD is a Lecturer at the Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW), where she is teaching Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Adolescent Development, and Clinical Practice Evaluation.Serena Klempin, MSW, is a Research Associate at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University. She was most recently a Research Associate at the Columbia University School of Social Work's Center for Research on Fathers, Children and Family Well-Being.

Table of Contents

PART I: INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Who are these Fathers?

PART II: NONRESIDENT FATHER PRESENCE
Chapter 3. Nonresident Fathers in Active Parenting Roles
Chapter 4. Understanding Challenges to Active Parenting Roles
Chapter 5. Nonresident Fathers as Breadwinners
Chapter 6. Understanding Challenges to the Breadwinner Role: Limited Education
Chapter 7. Understanding Challenges to the Breadwinner Role: Limited Employment and Finances

PART III: CONCLUSION
Chapter 8. How Programs and Policies Can Help Nonresident Fathers Reach Their Goals
Chapter 9. Tips for Nonresident Fathers

Editorial Reviews

"Rarely does one book paint a clear, concise, and lucid understanding of a population. As the research and scholarship on responsible fatherhood continue to grow, a greater understanding emerges bridging child welfare and father involvement. Failing Our Fathers adds to this understanding by defining the world of vulnerable nonresident fathers in their own words." — Social Work

"The volume broadens our recognition and deepens our understanding of nonresident fatherhood by expanding the lens from which economic vulnerability is examined, the myriad of mechanisms and life course events that characterize their respective plights and struggles. The qualitative insights will yield an enhanced discourse on their lives as fathers and life course experiences as parents." —Waldo E. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D., MSW, Social of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago

"Failing Our Fathers offers a succinct overview of the challenges facing economically vulnerable fathers. This book would be especially useful for scholars, policy-makers, and others aiming to gain an understanding of recent research on nonresidential fathers. The research and analyses presented here offer a solid starting point for dialogue about policy changes that would better support vulnerable fathers and their families." —Journal of Children and Poverty

"Failing Our Fathers is an important work that is accessible to a wide audience. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in nonresident fathers and who is working in the practice, policy, or research disciplines. For those who are newer to literature on this population of fathers, this book provides a thoughtful overview and historical context, a logical view of the relevant issues and policy implications, and a helpful illustration of a number of different challenges through a multimethod approach that includes father interviews." —Social Service Review

From the Publisher