Fathers’ Socioeconomic Precarity and Mothers’ Ability to Make Ends Meet

Economic and policy changes since Making Ends Meet was first published have fundamentally restructured the social safety net available to single mothers, while simultaneously eroding the economic position of the men with whom they share children. This study examines the degree of socioeconomic precarity among nonresident fathers and its implications for the economic well-being of mothers in the post-welfare reform era, using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Nearly all nonresident fathers reported some type of precarity related to their employment, exposure to punitive systems, or financial and material resources; and the support they received from public or private sources was limited. Multiple aspects of fathers’ socioeconomic precarity were also associated with mothers’ experiences of material hardship and poverty. These findings suggest that nonresident fathers’ own precarity precludes them from compensating for the loss of cash support following welfare reform.