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Objective. We estimate the effect of poor child health on the labor supply of fathers post‐welfare reform, using a national sample of mostly unwed parents and their children—a group at high risk of living in poverty.Method. We control for a rich set of covariates, include state fixed effects, and test for the endogeneity of child health by estimating bivariate probit models.Results. We find that having a young child in poor health reduces the father's probability of being employed by four percentage points. The effect appears to be strongest among fathers who cohabit with, but are not married to, the child's mother.Conclusion. The results suggest a potential source by which young children with serious health problems may receive lower levels of health investment than their healthier peers—their fathers' reduced likelihood of being employed.

Objective. We estimate the effect of poor child health on the labor supply of fathers' post-welfare reform, using a national sample of mostly unwed parents & their children -- a group at high risk of living in poverty. Method. We control for a rich set of covariates, include state fixed effects, & test for the endogeneity of child health by estimating bivariate probit models. Results. We find that having a young child in poor health reduces the father's probability of being employed by four percentage points. The effect appears to be strongest among fathers who cohabit with, but are not married to, the child's mother. Conclusion. The results suggest a potential source by which young children with serious health problems may receive lower levels of health investment than their healthier peers -- their fathers' reduced likelihood of being employed. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

This paper adds to the literature on social capital and health by testing whether an exogenous shock in the health of a family member (a new baby) affects the family's investment in social capital. It also contributes to a small but growing literature on the effects of children's health on family resources and provides information about associations between health and social capital in a socioeconomically disadvantaged population. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, a longitudinal survey of about 5,000 births to mostly unwed parents in 20 U.S. cities during the years 1998–2000. Both parents were interviewed at the time of the birth and then again one and three years later. The infants' medical records from the birth hospitalization were reviewed, and poor infant health was characterized to reflect serious and random health problems that were present at birth. Social interactions, reported at three years, include the parents' participation in church groups, service clubs, political organizations, community groups, and organizations working with children; regular religious attendance; and visiting relatives with the child. Education, employment, wages, and sociodemographic characteristics are included in the analyses. The results suggest that infant health shocks do not affect the parents' social interactions.