title: Health insurance and family structure: the case of adolescents in skipped-generation families.
abstract: Since 1970, both the number and proportion of children being parented by a grandparent without the help of a parent has increased substantially. The increase in skipped-generation households has generated much concern from policy makers because such households are, on average, disadvantaged compared with most other household types. One important challenge facing grandparents with parenting responsibilities is securing health insurance for their dependent grandchildren. In this study, the authors investigate the extent to which grandparents raising their grandchildren were able to secure health insurance for their dependent grandchildren. They find that adolescents living in skipped-generation families in 1995 were more often uninsured, more often publicly insured, and less often privately insured compared with adolescents in other family types. Even after controlling for income, work status, and education, adolescents in skipped-generation families were still more likely to have public insurance and less likely to have private insurance compared with other adolescents.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, USA.
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kirby
authors.forename: Toshiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaneda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D000368:Aged; D000385:Aid to Families with Dependent Children / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004608:Eligibility Determination; D005191:Family Characteristics; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016487:Parenting; D011203:Poverty; D011336:Probability; D014481:United States