Conducted by Mignon R. Moore, Assistant Professor of Sociology and African-American Studies at Columbia University, this research is a cohort study of married and unmarried parents and their children in interracial and same race families in twenty U.S. cities including New York. This work analyzes data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study to examine policy-related issues regarding the long-term consequences for parents, children, and society of stronger paternity establishment and stricter child support enforcement. It also produces new knowledge on the conditions and capabilities of unmarried biological parents – especially fathers – in urban areas. This research heavily emphasizes the experiences of interracial families, examining variation in ideologies and attitudes concerning marriage, parenthood, and father involvement between unmarried and married biological parents in interracial relationships. It also measures differences between couples in interracial and same race unions in their levels of stability, conflict, and extended kin involvement. This work is supported by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

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