Abstract
Due to rising rates of non-marital birth in the United States, unmarried families have been the subject of extensive research and the target of government funded interventions over the last 15 years. Despite a growing literature on this population, few studies have addressed how unmarried couples coparent in the context of poverty. In the present study we used in-depth interviews with paired mothers and fathers to explore resilience processes in unmarried coparenting. We found that unmarried couples aspired to be good coparents, but the stress of living in poverty and the challenges of parenting young children led some to experience family strain or crisis. Using family stress theory as a framework for organizing the findings, we concluded that family resource management distinguished couples that adapted successfully to the task of coparenting from those that struggled to do so. Implications for theory, future research, and practice are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abidin, R. R., & Brunner, J. F. (1995). Development of a parenting alliance inventory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 24, 31–40. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2401_4.
Ahrons, C. R. (2007). Family ties after divorce: Long-term implications for children. Family Process, 46, 53–65. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2006.00191.x.
Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University & Social Indicators Survey Center, Columbia University. (2003). Union formation and dissolution in fragile families (fragile families research brief no. 14). Retrieved from http://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/sites/fragilefamilies/files/researchbrief14.pdf.
Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University & Social Indicators Survey Center, Columbia University. (2007). Relationship status five years after a non-marital birth (fragile families research brief no. 39). Retrieved from http://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/sites/fragilefamilies/files/researchbrief39.pdf.
Boss, P. (2002). Family stress management: A contextual approach (2 ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. doi:10.4135/9781452233895.
Bzostek, S. H., McLanahan, S. S., & Carlson, M. J. (2012). Mothers’ repartnering after nonmarital birth. Social Forces, 90(3), 817–841. doi:10.1093/sf/sos005.
Cabrera, N. J., Shannon, J. D., & La Taillade, J. J. (2009). Predictors of coparenting in Mexican American families and links to parenting and child social emotional development. Infant Mental Health Journal, 30, 523–548. doi:10.1002/imhj.20227.
Carlson, M. J., & McLanahan, S. S. (2006). Strengthening unmarried families: Could enhancing couple relationships also improve parenting. Social Science Review, 37, 298–321. doi:10.1086/503123.
Carlson, M. J., McLanahan, S. S., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2008). Coparenting and nonresident fathers’ involvement with young children after a nonmarital birth. Demography, 45, 461–488. doi:10.1353/dem.0.0007.
Child Trends (2015). Births to unmarried women: Indicators on children and youth. Retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=births-to-unmarried-women.
Coley, R. L., & Chase-Lansdale, P. L. (1999). Stability and change in paternal involvement among urban African American fathers. Journal of Family Psychology, 13, 416–435. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.13.3.416.
Coley, R. L., & Schindler, H. S. (2008). Biological fathers’ contributions to maternal and family functioning. Parenting, 8, 294–318. doi:10.1080/15295190802522814.
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. doi:10.4135/9781452230153.
Curran, M. A., Hazan, N. L., & Mann, T. (2009). Representations of marriage and expectations of parenthood: Predictors of supportive coparenting for first-time parents. Parenting: Science and Practice, 9, 101–122. doi:10.1080/15295190802656794.
Devault, A., Milcent, M., Ouellet, F., Laurin, I., Jauron, M., & Lacharite, C. (2008). Life stories of young fathers in contexts of vulnerability. Fathering, 6, 226–248. doi:10.3149/fth.0603.226.
Edin, K., Kefalas, M. J., & Reed, J. M. (2004). A peek inside the black box: What marriage means for poor, unmarried parents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 1007–2014. doi:10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00072.x.
Edin, K., & Nelson, T. J. (2013). Doing the best I can: Fatherhood in the inner city. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Fagan, J., Barnett, M., Bernd, E., & Whiteman, V. (2003). Prenatal involvement of adolescent unmarried fathers. Fathering, 1, 283–301. doi:10.3149/fth.0103.283.
Feinberg, M. E. (2003). The internal structure and ecological context of coparenting: A framework for research and intervention. Parenting: Science and Practice, 3, 95–131. doi:10.1207/S15327922PAR0302_01.
Gable, S., Belsky, J., & Crnic, K. (1992). Marriage, parenting, and child development: Progress and prospects. Journal of Family Psychology, 5, 276–294. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.5.3-4.276.
Gee, C. B., & Rhoades, J. E. (2003). Adolescent mothers’ relationship with their children’s biological fathers: Social support, social strain, and relationship continuity. Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 370–383. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.17.3.370.
Hill, R. (1971). Families under stress. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Hohmann-Marriott, B. E. (2011). Coparenting and father involvement in married and unmarried coresident couples. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73, 296–309. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00805.x.
Isacco, A., & Garfield, C. F. (2010). Child healthcare decision-making: Examining “conjointness” in paternal identities among residential and non-residential fathers. Fathering, 8, 109–130. doi:10.3149/fth.0801.109.
Jamison, T., Coleman, M., Ganong, L., & Feistman, R. (2014). Transitioning to post-divorce family life: A grounded theory investigation of resilience in co-parenting. Family Relations, 63, 411–423. doi:10.1111/fare.12074.
Jones, D. J., Zalot, A. A., Foster, S. E., Sterrett, E., & Chester, C. (2007). A review of childrearing in African American single mother families: The relevance of a coparenting framework. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16, 671–683. doi:10.1007/s10826-006-9115-0.
Kamp Dush, C. M., Kotila, L. E., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J. (2011). Predictors of supportive coparenting after relationship dissolution among at-risk parents. Family Psychology, 25(3), 356–365. doi:10.1037/a0023652.
Martin, J. A., Hamilton, B. E., Osterman, M. J., Curtin, S. C., & Mathews, T. J. (2015). Births: Final data for 2013, National Vital Statistics Reports, 64(1). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf.
McCubbin, H., & Patterson, J. (1983). The family stress process: The double ABCX model of family adjustment and adaptation. Marriage and Family Review, 6(1–2), 7–37. doi:10.1300/J002v06n01_02.
McHale, J. P. (1997). Overt and covert coparenting processes in the family. Family Process, 36, 183–201. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.1997.00183.x.
McHale, J. P., Waller, M. R., & Pearson, J. (2012). Coparenting interventions for fragile families: What do we know and where do we need to go next? Family Process, 51, 284–306. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2012.01402.x.
McLanahan, S., & Beck, A. N. (2010). Parental relationships in fragile families. The Future of Children, 20, 17–38. doi:10.1353/foc.2010.0007.
McLanahan, S., & Carlson, M. S. (2004). Fathers in fragile families. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (pp. 368–396). Hoboken: Wiley. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9820-2_7.
Morrill, M., Hines, D., Mahmood, S., & Cordova, J. (2010). Pathways between marriage and parenting for wives and husbands: The role of co-parenting. Family Process, 49, 59–73. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2010.01308.x.
Nock, S. L. (1995). Commitment and dependency in marriage. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 503–514. doi:10.2307/353702.
Osborne, C. (2005). Marriage following the birth of a child among cohabiting and visiting parents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 14–26. doi:10.1111/j.0022-2445.2005.00002.x.
Patterson, J. M. (1988). Families experiencing stress. Family Systems Medicine, 6(2), 202–237. doi:10.1037/h0089739.
Patterson, J. M. (2002). Integrating family resilience and family stress theory. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 349–360. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2002.00349.x.
Ryan, R. M., Tolani, N., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2009). Relationship trajectories, parenting stress, and unwed mothers’ transition to a new baby. Parenting, 9, 160–177. doi:10.1080/15295190802656844.
Sheftall, A. H., Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., & Futris, T. G. (2010). Adolescent mothers’ perceptions of the coparenting relationship with their child’s father: A function of attachment security and trust. Journal of Family Issues, 31, 884–905. doi:10.1177/0192513X09359892.
Sterrett, E., Jones, D. J., Forehand, R., & Garai, E. (2010). Predictors of coparenting relationship quality in African American single mother families: An ecological model. Journal of Black Psychology, 36, 277–302. doi:10.1177/0095798409353754.
Teubert, D., & Pinquart, M. (2010). The association between coparenting and child adjustment: A meta-analysis. Parenting, 10, 286–307. doi:10.1080/15295192.2010.492040.
Trail, T., & Karney, B. R. (2012). What’s (not) wrong with low-income marriages. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74, 413–427. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.00977.x.
Van Egeren, L. (2003). Prebirth predictors of coparenting experiences in early infancy. Infant Mental Health Journal, 24, 278–295. doi:10.1002/imhj.10056.
Van Egeren, L. A., & Hawkins, D. P. (2004). Coming to terms with coparenting: Implications of definition and measurement. Journal of Adult Development, 11, 165–178. doi:10.1023/B:JADE.0000035625.74672.0b.
Waldfogel, J., Craigie, Y., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2010). Fragile families and child wellbeing. The Future of Children, 20, 87–112. doi:10.1353/foc.2010.0002.
Waller, M. R. (2009). Family man in the other America: New opportunities, motivations, and supports for paternal caregiving. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 624, 156–176. doi:10.1177/0002716209334372.
Waller, M. R. (2012). Cooperation, conflict, or disengagement? Coparenting styles and father involvement in fragile families. Family Process, 51, 325–342. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2012.01403.x.
Walsh, F. (Ed.). (2012). Normal family processes (4th ed.). New York: Guilford.
Wood, R. G., Moore, Q., Clarkwest, A., & Killewald, A. (2014). The long-term effects of building strong families: A program for unmarried parents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76(2), 446–463. doi:10.1111/jomf.12094.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Human and Animal Research Information
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jamison, T.B., Ganong, L. & Proulx, C.M. Unmarried Coparenting in the Context of Poverty: Understanding the Relationship Between Stress, Family Resource Management, and Resilience. J Fam Econ Iss 38, 439–452 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-016-9518-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-016-9518-z