Absent Fathers?

Much has been written and debated on lone mothers. However little has been discussed about non-resident fathers. Absent Fathers is part of a growing literature on men and masculinities and takes this debate further. Drawn from one of the best social policy units in the UK and results from the current ESRC Programme on Population and Household Change, it will provide a text for undergraduates in social policy and should also be important for professionals concerned with family breakdown and child support.

All the authors are based at the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences at York University. Carol Stimson died before the project was completed, but Jonathan Bradshaw, Christine Skinner and Julie Williams continued and finished writing the manuscript.

Preface 1 Introduction 12 Methods of collecting the data 3 The characteristics of non-resident fathers 4 Employment and income 5 Housing 6 Contact between non-resident fathers and their children 7 The fluidity of contact 8 Child support: Who pays? 9 The level of financial support 10 The Child Support Agency 11 Willingness to pay 12 Negotiating child maintenance 13 Concluding discussion