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This article reviews recent literature on low-income fathers, including the transition to fatherhood for young unmarried fathers and levels of father involvement among married, cohabiting, and nonresident low-income fathers. I discuss predictors of father involvement as well as available evidence concerning their effects on children's well-being. Although mounting qualitative evidence argues that unmarried low-income men may be more favorably disposed to fatherhood than previously recognized and that such intentions may greatly influence subsequent fathering behavior, studies of fertility intention remain largely separate from those of father involvement. I propose that subsequent research should also pay greater attention to the effects of fatherhood on low-income men.

Across the political spectrum, unwed fatherhood is denounced as one of the leading social problems of today. Doing the Best I Can is a strikingly rich, paradigm-shifting look at fatherhood among inner-city men often dismissed as "deadbeat dads." Kathryn Edin and Timothy J. Nelson examine how couples in challenging straits come together and get pregnant so quickly—without planning. The authors chronicle the high hopes for forging lasting family bonds that pregnancy inspires, and pinpoint the fatal flaws that often lead to the relationship's demise. They offer keen insight into a radical redefinition of family life where the father-child bond is central and parental ties are peripheral.Drawing on years of fieldwork, Doing the Best I Can shows how mammoth economic and cultural changes have transformed the meaning of fatherhood among the urban poor. Intimate interviews with more than 100 fathers make real the significant obstacles faced by low-income men at every step in the familial process: from the difficulties of romantic relationships, to decision-making dilemmas at conception, to the often celebratory moment of birth, and finally to the hardships that accompany the early years of the child's life, and beyond

"Three of the nation's top scholars, known for tackling key mysteries about poverty in America, turn their attention from the country's poorest people to its poorest places. Based on a fresh, data-driven approach, they discover that America's most disadvantaged communities are not the big cities that get the most notice. Instead, nearly all are rural. Little if any attention has been paid to these places or to the people who make their lives there. This revelation set in motion a five-year journey across Appalachia, the Cotton and Tobacco Belts of the Deep South, and South Texas. Immersing themselves in these communities, pouring over centuries of local history, attending parades and festivals, the authors trace the legacies of the deepest poverty in America, including inequalities shaping people's health, livelihoods, and upward social mobility for families. Wrung dry by powerful forces and corrupt government officials, the "internal colonies" in these regions were exploited for their resources and then left to collapse. The unfolding revelation in The Injustice of Place is not about what sets these places apart, but about what they have in common: a history of raw, intensive resource extraction and human exploitation. This history and its reverberations demand a reckoning and a commitment to wage a new War on Poverty, with the unrelenting focus on our nation's places of deepest need"--

U.S. children are more likely to live apart from a biological parent than at any time in history. Although the Child Support Enforcement system has tremendous reach, its policies have not kept pace with significant economic, demographic, and cultural changes. Narrative analysis of in‐depth interviews with 429 low‐income noncustodial fathers suggests that the system faces a crisis of legitimacy. Visualization of language used to describe all forms child support show that the formal system is considered punitive and to lead to a loss of power and autonomy. Further, it is not associated with coparenting or the father–child bond—themes closely associated with informal and in‐kind support. Rather than stoking men's identities as providers, the system becomes "just another bill to pay." Orders must be sustainable, all fathers should have coparenting agreements, and alternative forms of support should count toward fathers' obligations. Recovery of government welfare costs should be eliminated.

Embryonic stem cell (ES) technology has advanced considerably within the past three decades and has gained prominent distinction within the emerging field of regenerative medicine. As it now enters the nascent stages of clinical application, many hopes and expectations arise along with questions as to where the technology will go. This paper evaluates the technical and practical obstacles that must be overcome before it can fully translate into the clinical context, the existence of strong opposition to the technology, political and legal barriers that have impeded its progression, and the role of healthcare reform in creating new social and economic priorities. In contrast to the technological imperative, a driving force seeking to implement the most recent scientific advances into medical practice, we refer to such translational obstacles as "technological impedance." Rather than expending inordinate effort to preserve existing systems that continue to possess major hurdles, we advocate fostering interdisciplinary approaches in the development of new generation platforms and embracing disruptive innovations that create solutions to technological impedance and move us forward in healthcare delivery. Clin Trans Sci 2012; Volume 5: 422–427