One in five American mothers have children from different fathers

Multiple-father type of family structures were more common among minority women, with 59 percent of African-American mothers, 35 percent of Hispanic mothers and 22 percent of white mothers reporting children with more than one father.

"To put it in perspective, this is similar to the number of American adults with a college degree," the study's author, Cassandra Dorius, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research says. "It's pervasive."

Dorius' study examined data from nearly 4,000 U.S. women who had been interviewed more than 20 times over a 27-year period.

Dorius says the findings are highly important in regards to the consequences to both the mother and her children. Women with children from multiple fathers tend to be disadvantaged compared to other moms. "They are more likely to be under-employed, to have lower incomes, and to be less educated," Dorius says.

This type of family structure, with children from multiple fathers can lead to a lot more stress for everyone involved, in part because the women need to juggle the demands and needs of more than one dad. 

"Everyday decisions are more complex and family rules are more ambiguous," Dorius says. "Families need to figure out who lives with whom and when, who pays for things like clothing, who is responsible for child support."
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