ABSTRACT
SUMMARY. Research on non-custodial fathers is progressing from the negative effects of father absence to the development of success ful models of co-parenting where absentee fathers share responsibili ties for childrearing. Theoretically-based analyses of the obstacles and factors that promote father involvement need to be placed within the context of diverse families and interactions between biological parents living apart. Assessment of the impact of father presence on child well-being is especially important in light of the high propor tion of children living in one-parent families without father support and the high rate of poverty among children raised by mothers. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Ser vice: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworth.com]
The social science literature on noncustodial fatherhood has prolifer ated in the past few years, with terms used to describe these fathers as nonresident, absentee and undercover fathers. Growing interest in noncus todial parenthood is partly in response to changing family structure and the rapid increase in children raised in one-parent families, most often by mothers. Currently 27% of all children in the U.S. are raised in one-parent families and over one half of these children are poor (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1995b).
