When their child was born, more than 80 percent of unmarried parents either lived together or maintained a close relationship while living separately.

Other key findings reported from the Fragile Families study include the following: Researchers also found that children in these families were at greater risk for physical and other types of abuse, poor performance at school, and behavior problems. Were more likely to report being in poor health, have a health-related limitation, and to drink heavily or to use drugs.Relied on public and private programs and help from family and friends to make ends meet and.Earned less and were more likely to live in poverty.The study showed that, when compared with married parents, unmarried couples: Of the families that participated in the study, three-fourths were fragile families-unmarried when their child was born. Using hospital and home visits, medical records, and interviews with parents, child care providers, and teachers, Fragile Family researchers collected data on nearly 5,000 couples in 20 of the nation’s largest cities. The impacts of these families on society as a whole, including trends related to the formation of fragile families, and what role, if any, policies might play in tempering these impacts.The children in fragile families, including how being raised in such a family affects their well-being and.The parents in fragile families, including their relationships with each other and with their children, and how these relationships change over time.The overall aims of Fragile Family are to understand: The study is supported through the NICHD Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch and offers a snapshot of life for fragile families living in major cities today. Findings from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being study (called the Fragile Families study or Fragile Families), launched by the NICHD in 1998, were recently published in a special issue of the journal The Future of Children.

The results of more than a decade of this research are now available. Who are the mothers and fathers in these fragile families? How do their relationships-to each other and to their children-change over time? What is life like in a fragile family? And what are the experiences of children from fragile families as they grow and enter school? To understand the evolution of America’s families, the NICHD supports nationwide research that examines families-including 'fragile families' of unwed parents and their children-patterns of change in families, and the effects of these changes on children, parents, and society as a whole. According to recent data, for example, 40 percent of infants are born to unmarried mothers-more than double the number for 1980. More than 10 years of research reveals much about fragile familiesįamilies today look very different than they did a generation or two ago.

Fragile families codebook