Father Involvement Differences by Race in Fragile Families

Past studies on the intersection of class, race, and family have posited that class trumps race. Lareau (2003) and Kohn (1977) found that people of the same class, rather than people of the same racial group, have similar expectations of their children. The Fragile Family study examines the lives of mostly unmarried, lower income, minority families. This paper examines the differences across races at similar socioeconomic levels using the Year 5 dataset of the Fragile Families study. This exploratory study attempts to explain racial differences in father involvement. The findings indicate that many of the racial differences existed in the frequency of participation. Hispanic fathers had difficulty in overcoming the 'hurdle' of reading to their children. Of the fathers who read to their children, Black, Hispanic, and fathers of 'Other' races, had lower frequency levels of reading to their children.