Maybe someday: marriage and cohabitation among low-income fathers

Drawing upon a life course framework and grounded theoretical analysis, I explore the family circumstances of low-income, single fathers and their expectations to marry. In-depth interviews were conducted with 37 low-income men living in a metropolitan area of the western U.S. Findings suggest that most of these men are actively engaged in parenting their children, either while living with their partner or sharing parenting between two households. Many of the cohabiting relationships these men formed included periods of separation due to conflict. Among these men, those who fathered children as adolescents were less likely to marry or assume parental responsibilities than those who fathered children at older ages. Overall, these fathers expect to marry sometime in the future, but, because of uncertainties in their current relationships, choose to cohabit rather than marry. The primary challenges to marriage or longterm commitment that men reported were economic strains due to a lack of educational and occupational opportunities, and parenting stresses due to a lack of parenting and family interaction skills. In addition, men raised concerns regarding their ability to discipline their children without being abusive.