Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Family life has undergone dramatic change in recent decades, especially in relation to family structure. Marked increases in union dissolution and nonmarital childbearing have resulted in a growing number of children living apart from one of their parents. Most non-resident parents are fathers but with resident fathers becoming one of the fastest-rising family forms in many western countries, non-resident mothers too are increasing in number. Throughout history, fathers have been absent from their children's lives for many reasons: for work, to fight wars, or through incarceration. But more recently, the transition to non-resident parenthood typically occurs in one of three ways: nonmarital childbearing where parents never live together; the breakdown of the relationships of unmarried cohabiting parents; or marital dissolution between parents. Non-resident parenthood has become a common transition in the life course of many parents, even though most parents, of course, never anticipate such a transition. Up until recently, not a great deal has been known about non-resident fathers. Even less remains known about non-resident mothers. While concern for children's well-being has catalyzed research efforts, researching non-resident parents is no easy task. Non-resident parents are hard to identify, locate, and recruit for research. They can be geographically mobile, and can have tenuous ... log in or subscribe to read full text