Understanding racial differences in the economic costs of growing up in a single-parent family.
This article examines whether the economic consequences of growing up in a single-parent family differ for black children and white children. It is important to understand whether the costs differ across racial groups because although much of the rhetoric about poor single-parent families focuses on inner-city blacks, most children who live in such families are white. If the costs of living with only one parent vary across groups, then policies that are aimed at reducing the costs that do not acknowledge this variation will not target resources efficiently. We found that the economic costs of living with a single parent are larger for black children than for white children. Most of the discrepancy can be attributed to differences in remarriage rates, marital stability, welfare participation, and female labor supply.
Page
Marianne E
ME
Department of Economics, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. mepage@ucdavis.edu
Stevens
Ann Huff
AH
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D004651:Employment; D005191:Family Characteristics / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017533:Marital Status / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011640:Public Policy; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020954:Single-Parent Family / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*