Marcia J Carlson

Biographic Data

ID92517
NAMEMarcia J Carlson
GIVEN NAMESMarcia J
FAMILY NAMECarlson
SIGNATURECARLSON M J
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
ORCID0000-0001-6130-2254
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS33
TOTAL CITATIONS974
AUTHOR COUNT32
EDITOR COUNT1
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1996
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2024
H-INDEX15

  • Defining the ‘Resource Unit’ for Poverty Measurement in Complex Contemporary Households: It’s Complicated

    Open AccessLawrence M Berger, Lawrence Berger et al.ARTICLEPopulation Research and Policy…2024References: 30

  • Changing Work, Changing Families, and Public Policies Toward Low-Income Families

    Open AccessMarcia J Carlson, Christopher Wimer et al.ARTICLERSF The Russell Sage Foundation…2022Cited by: 1References: 36

    The twenty-first century has seen major changes in both the nature of work and the nature of families in the United States—even before the COVID-19 pandemic upended nearly every aspect of economic and social life beginning in the spring of 2020. Many ongoing, longer-term changes in work and family

  • Increases in shared custody after divorce in the United States

    Open AccessD R Meyer, Marcia J Carlson et al.ARTICLEDemographic Research2022Cited by: 14References: 33

    While a striking rise in shared physical custody after divorce has been observed in Wisconsin and some European countries, the same trend in shared custody has not been documented in US national data

  • Putting people into dynamic places: The importance of specific contexts in understanding demographic responses to changes in the natural environment

    Open AccessKatherine J Curtis, Malia Jones et al.ARTICLEPopulation and Environment2021Cited by: 1References: 18

  • Family Complexity and Children's Behavior Problems over Two U.S. Cohorts

    Open AccessP Fomby, A Ophir et al.ARTICLEJournal of Marriage and the Family2021Cited by: 4References: 56

    The prevalence of and precursors to complex family organization were stable across recent child cohorts. The observed association between family complexity and child behavior problems may be attributable to selection mechanisms linked to both parents' family formation trajectories and to children's behavior, rather than to family change itself

  • Social Class and Changing Families in an Unequal America

    Marcia J Carlson, Paula EnglandBOOKSocial Class and Changing…2020

  • Family Policy and Complex Contemporary Families: A Decade in Review and Implications for the Next Decade of Research and Policy Practice

    Open AccessLawrence M Berger, Marcia J CarlsonARTICLEJournal of Marriage and the Family2020Cited by: 26References: 14

    Prior Journal of Marriage and Family decade‐in‐review articles have grappled with the definition and role of family policy for research and policy practice while emphasizing its value to both. In this article, we begin with a broad conceptualization of family policy that encompasses actions intended to achieve explicitly stated goals for families (explicit policies) and those that affect families without an explicitly stated goal for doing so (im…

  • Race/Ethnic Differences in Nonresident Fathers’ Involvement After a Nonmarital Birth

    Open AccessCalvina Ellerbe, Calvina Z Ellerbe et al.ARTICLESocial Science Quarterly2018Cited by: 12References: 32

    OBJECTIVES: This article examines how the levels of nonresidential father involvement (over child ages 1 to 9) differ by race/ethnicity (comparing White, Black and Hispanic fathers), and then considers how individual and couple characteristics may 'account for' any observed differences. METHOD: = 2,447) and random effects models were used to examine how nonresidential father involvement (with respect to time, engagement, shared responsibility, an…

  • Fathers' Investments of Money and Time Across Residential Contexts

    Open AccessMarcia J Carlson, Alicia G Vanorman et al.ARTICLEJournal of Marriage and the Family2017Cited by: 18References: 39

    Fathers' roles in family life have changed dramatically over the past 50 years. In addition to ongoing breadwinning responsibilities, many fathers are now involved in direct caregiving and engagement with children. Yet there is considerable variation in what fathers do, especially depending on whether they live with or away from their child. In this article, the authors use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,869) to d…

  • Trajectories of relationship supportiveness after childbirth: Does marriage matter

    Open AccessMarcia J Carlson, Alicia G Vanorman et al.ARTICLESocial Science Research2017Cited by: 5References: 60

  • Educational differences in early childbearing: A cross-national comparative study

    Open AccessJames M Raymo, James Raymo et al.ARTICLEDemographic Research2015Cited by: 12References: 34

    BACKGROUND: Recent research on fertility in industrialized countries focuses primarily on delayed childbearing, despite the facts that large numbers of women continue to enter parenthood at relatively young ages and that early childbearing has been linked to economic disadvantage. OBJECTIVE: This cross-national comparative study describes relationships between women's educational attainment and young age at first birth and evaluates the extent to…

  • Childbearing Across Partnerships in Australia, the United States, Norway, and Sweden

    Open AccessElizabeth Thomson, Trude Lappegård et al.ARTICLEDemography2014Cited by: 34References: 48

    This article compares mothers’ experience of having children with more than one partner in two liberal welfare regimes (the United States and Australia) and two social democratic regimes (Sweden and Norway). We use survey-based union and birth histories in Australia and the United States and data from national population registers in Norway and Sweden to estimate the likelihood of experiencing childbearing across partnerships at any point in the …

  • Family Complexity: Setting the Context

    Open AccessMarcia J Carlson, D R MeyerARTICLEThe Annals of the American…2014Cited by: 21References: 10

    family complexity; multiple-partner fertility; union instability; family change

  • Family Complexity: Implications for Policy and Research

    Open AccessD R Meyer, Marcia J CarlsonARTICLEThe Annals of the American…2014Cited by: 11References: 8

    family complexity; research; targeted policies; nontargeted policies; same-sex couples; shared custody; nonresidential partnerships

  • Parents' Relationship Quality and Children's Behavior in Stable Married and Cohabiting Families

    Open AccessJulia S Goldberg, Marcia J CarlsonARTICLEJournal of Marriage and the Family2014Cited by: 25References: 50

    Although an extensive literature has shown that family structure is linked with child well-being, less well understood is how the dynamics within families affect children, in particular the extent to which positive mother-father relationship quality is linked with children's outcomes. In this study the authors used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 773) to examine how couple supportiveness in stable coresident families…

  • Examining the Antecedents of U.S. Nonmarital Fatherhood

    Open AccessMarcia J Carlson, Alicia G Vanorman et al.ARTICLEDemography2013Cited by: 14References: 48

    Despite the dramatic rise in U.S. nonmarital childbearing in recent decades, limited attention has been paid to factors affecting nonmarital fatherhood (beyond studies of young fathers). In this article, we use data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort to examine the antecedents of nonmarital fatherhood, as compared to marital fatherhood. Overall, we find the strongest support ac…

  • What Kids Get from Parents: Packages of Parental Involvement across Complex Family Forms

    Marcia J Carlson, Lawrence M BergerARTICLESocial Service Review2013Cited by: 50References: 7

    While demographers have continued to document the notable family changes that have occurred in recent decades, the nature of family functioning across diverse family forms is less well understood. In particular, we know little about the level and quality of parental investment that children receive across a range of contemporary family types. In this paper, we use data from a recent U.S. urban birth cohort to examine the 'package' of parental inv…

  • Like Parent, Like Child: The intergenerational transmission of nonmarital childbearing

    Open AccessRobin S Högnäs, Marcia J CarlsonARTICLESocial Science Research2012Cited by: 10References: 62

  • Low-Income Fathers' Influence on Children

    Open AccessMarcia J Carlson, Katherine Magnuson et al.ARTICLEThe Annals of the American…2011Cited by: 33References: 82

    This article examines what we know about how low-income fathers matter for children. The authors first provide a theoretical background about how parents generally (and fathers more specifically) are expected to influence children's development and well-being. The authors note the importance of considering differences across children's age, gender, and race/ethnicity; and they identify key methodological challenges in this area. Then, they summar…

  • Multipartnered Fertility and Depression Among Fragile Families

    Open AccessK Turney, Marcia J CarlsonARTICLEJournal of Marriage and the Family2011Cited by: 15References: 56

    We used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the association between multipartnered fertility (MPF)-when parents have children with more than one partner-and depression. Random effects models suggested that MPF is associated with a greater likelihood of depression, net of family structure and other covariates. However, these associations disappeared in more conservative fixed effects models that estimated changes in…

  • Couples as Partners and Parents Over Children's Early Years

    Open AccessMarcia J Carlson, Natasha V Pilkauskas et al.ARTICLEJournal of Marriage and the Family2011Cited by: 26References: 51

    We used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how couple relationship quality and parental engagement are linked over children's early years-when they are infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Our sample included 1,630 couples that were coresident over years 1 to 3 and 1,376 couples that were coresident over years 3 to 5 (1,196 over both periods). Overall, we found that better relationship quality predicted greater pa…

  • Intergenerational Relationships and Union Stability in Fragile Families

    Open AccessRobin S Högnäs, Marcia J CarlsonARTICLEJournal of Marriage and the Family2010Cited by: 9References: 37

    Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,656), we examined the association between intergenerational relationships and parents' union stability 5 years after a baby's birth. Results showed that more amiable relationships between parents and each partner's parents, and children's spending more time with paternal grandparents, increased the odds that parents coresided by the time their child was age 5. The more time tha…

  • Coparenting and nonresident fathers’ involvement with young children after a nonmarital birth

    Open AccessMarcia J Carlson, Mclanahan et al.ARTICLEDemography2008Cited by: 84References: 60

    We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to investigate the association between coparenting quality and nonresident fathers’ involvement with children over the first five years after a nonmarital birth. We find that about one year after a nonmarital birth, 48% of fathers are living away from their child, rising to 56% and then to 63% at three and five years, respectively. Using structural equation models to estimate cross-l…

  • Marriageability among the Partners of Young Mothers

    Leonard M Lopoo, Marcia J CarlsonARTICLESocial Service Review2008Cited by: 2References: 5

    Much research explores the nature and consequences of childbearing by unmarried young women, but few works investigate the characteristics of the men who father children with these women. This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to describe the economic, social, and behavioral capacities of men who have children with unwed young mothers (ages 18–21). It compares these men to others who have children with women who …

  • Parenting Practices of Resident Fathers: The Role of Marital and Biological Ties

    Open AccessLawrence M Berger, Marcia J Carlson et al.ARTICLEJournal of Marriage and the Family2008Cited by: 54References: 44

    This paper uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N= 2,098) to examine differences in the parenting practices of four types of resident fathers, defined by their biological relationship to a focal child and their marital status with regard to the focal child's mother. Regression results suggest that biological fathers and social fathers (i.e., stepfathers or mothers' cohabiting partners) differ significantly, and in some u…