Who Are Fragile Families and What Do We Know About Them?

Publication Date: January 2004

Publisher: Center for Law and Social Policy

Author(s): Mary Parke

Research Area: Social conditions

Type: Brief

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Nearly one-third of all births now occur to unmarried parentscreating what have been called fragile families. The term fragile families emphasizes both that these unmarried couples and their children are, in fact, familiesand that they are at greater risk of poverty and of family dissolution than married families.

This policy brief, the fourth in the Couples and Marriage Series, summarizes selected findings from two studies: (1) the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWB), the first national study of unmarried parents, their relationships to each other, and the well-being of their children, and (2) the Time, Love, Cash, Caring and Children Study (TLC3), a related ethnographic study of a sub-sample of romantically involved couples from FFCWB.