Paternal incarceration, child care instability, and children's wellbeing

Abstract Objective This study examines the relationship between paternal incarceration, child care instability, and children's well‐being. Background Despite the established repercussions of paternal incarceration for children and families, little is known about how paternal incarceration is associated with child care arrangements and how unstable child care arrangements moderate the deleterious consequences of paternal incarceration for children's well‐being. Methods We use data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a cohort of urban children born around the turn of the 21st century, to examine the relationship between recent first‐time paternal incarceration and child care instability (measured by long‐term instability, multiplicity, and back‐up care arrangements). We also examine how child care instability moderates the relationship between recent first‐time paternal incarceration and children's problem behaviors. Results Analyses suggest three main findings. First, paternal incarceration is positively associated with long‐term child care instability, net of prior instability and factors associated with selection into paternal incarceration. Paternal incarceration is not associated with multiplicity or back‐up care. Second, the relationship between paternal incarceration and children's problem behaviors is larger among children with unstable care arrangements than among those with stable care arrangements. Third, children living with their father prior to his incarceration, compared to children not living with their father prior to his incarceration, experience larger consequences of paternal incarceration. Conclusion We document the relationship between paternal incarceration and child care instability and how this instability moderates the association between paternal incarceration and children's problem behaviors.