When it comes to a father's continuing involvement with his children, marriage matters, a Columbia University professor said. The program at the former YMCA building was organized by the centrist Democratic Leadership Council and underwritten by the Freddie Mack Foundation. Mincy summarized new data about the paternal influence on the mother's prenatal care, a father's involvement with his baby one year after its birth and in the child's education. Fathers, particularly married fathers, play an important role in reducing smoking and drinking among expectant mothers, the professor said.
Economic factors play a role in relationships.
The key variable affecting whether a father is involved in his child's life a year after the baby's birth is whether the mother wanted to marry the father at the time of birth, Mincy said. If the mother wanted to marry the father, the man's involvement increased dramatically. Of the men the mothers wanted no involvement with, only 30 percent remained highly involved with their children one year after the baby's birth. Among blacks, a man's economic situation determines whether a woman wants to marry the father of her child, Mincy said. Employed men have a 300 percent advantage over their jobless brethren.