More Kin, Less Support: Multipartnered Fertility and Perceived Support Among Mothers

• Published in: Journal of marriage and family Vol. 69; no. 1; pp. 237 - 253
• Main Authors: Harknett, Kristen, Knab, Jean
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01-02-2007; National Council on Family Relations; Blackwell Publishing; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Birth; Child Care; Children; Cohabitation; Correlation; Demography; Divorce; Families & family life; Family; Family (Sociological Unit); Family relations; Family Role; Family Size; Family studies; Fathers; Fertility; fragile families; Housing; Interpersonal Relationship; kin networks; Kinship Networks; Longitudinal Studies; Low Income; Mothers; Of General Interest; Parenting; Parents; Sexual Behavior; Social networking; Social Networks; Social Support; Social Support Groups; Stepfamilies; Welfare Recipients
• ISSN: 0022-2445; 1741-3737
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00356.x

Recent research has documented the high prevalence of having children with more than 1 partner, termed multipartnered fertility. Because childbearing is an important mechanism for building kin networks, we theorize that multipartnered fertility will influence the availability of social support for mothers. Analyzing 3 waves of data from the Fragile Families study (N = 12,259), we find that multipartnered fertility is negatively associated with the availability of financial, housing, and child-care support. Our longitudinal evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship in which multipartneredfertility reduces the availability of support, and the availability of support inhibits multipartnered fertility. We conclude that smaller and denser kin networks seem to be superior to broader, but weaker kin ties in terms of perceived instrumental support.