Selection into and Timing of Social Fatherhood: Men Who Partner with Single Mothers

Kimberly J. Turner, Cornell University
Sharon Sassler, Cornell University

While much attention has focused on the barriers facing single mothers’ marriage prospects, relatively little is known about the attributes of men willing to partner with women with children. This paper examines the characteristics of men willing to partner with single mothers. We then explore the types of relationships formed and the speed in which men enter into cohabiting and marital unions with single mothers. Data are from the men’s sample of the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth. Our results indicate that men willing to partner with single mothers are on many dimensions negatively selected, offer less formal commitment, and proceed into shared living significantly faster, relative to men who partner with childless women. Results are interpreted in light of recent policy efforts to promote marriage and current research on the factors associated with child and maternal well-being