The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study is following a cohort of nearly 5,000 children born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000 (roughly three-quarters of whom were born to unmarried parents). We refer to unmarried parents and their children as “fragile families” to underscore that they are families and that they are at greater risk of breaking up and living in poverty than more traditional families.
The Study was designed to address four questions of great interest to researchers and policy makers: (1) What are the conditions and capabilities of unmarried parents, especially fathers?; (2) What is the nature of the relationships between unmarried parents?; (3) How do children born into these families fare?; and (4) How do policies and environmental conditions affect families and children?
The Study consists of interviews with both mothers and fathers at birth and again when children are ages one, three and five, plus in-home assessments of children and their home environments at ages three and five. The parent interviews collect information on attitudes, relationships, parenting behavior, demographic characteristics, health (mental and physical), economic and employment status, neighborhood characteristics, and program participation. The in-home interview collects information on children’s cognitive and emotional development, health, and home environment. Several collaborative studies provide additional information on parents’ medical, employment and incarceration histories, religion, child care and early childhood education. These studies feature a variety of research methods, including administrative records, in-depth qualitative interviews, and surveys. The first three waves of data are available on the web at http://www.fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/public.asp. Research findings based on data from the Fragile Families Study are available in the CRCW-FF Working Paper series.
The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing in Middle Childhood Study recently received a $17 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) to field a nine-year follow-up. This project combines the core telephone surveys, in-home study, and teacher surveys into one larger project. Data collection began in 2007 and will continue through 2009.
The Study contributes to the teaching/training mission of CRCW by hosting bi-monthly workshops and courses for faculty and students at Princeton, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania. The Study has also sponsored several summer workshops at Columbia University. Finally, Princeton undergraduates and graduate students use these data for their senior theses and dissertations under the guidance of CRCW faculty.
The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study contributes to the policy mission of CRCW by publishing research briefs that translate workings papers into information that is useful to policy makers and practitioners. The Study also provides useful information to foundations, government agencies and non-profit organizations working to improve the conditions of children in New Jersey: See Children’s Futures and Newark Fragile Families.
To receive our bimonthly newsletter, which highlights recent publications and news from the Fragile Families study, you can sign up for the Fragile Families' listserv. When you click on the listserv link, you will be taken to a signup page. On this page, please fill in your name and email address and click on "Join FF News" at the bottom left of the page.
The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study is a joint effort by Princeton University’s Center for Research on Child Wellbeing (CRCW) and the Center for Health and Wellbeing, the Columbia Population Research Center, and the National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) at Columbia University.