Family structure and child food insecurity.
OBJECTIVE
We examined whether food insecurity was different for children in cohabiting or repartnered families versus those in single-mother or married-parent (biological) families.


METHODS
We compared probabilities of child food insecurity (CFI) across different family structures in 4 national data sets: the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics-Child Development Supplement (PSID-CDS).


RESULTS
Unadjusted probabilities of CFI in cohabiting or repartnered families were generally higher than in married-biological-parent families and often statistically indistinguishable from those of single-mother families. However, after adjustment for sociodemographic factors, most differences between family types were attenuated and most were no longer statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Although children whose biological parents are cohabiting or whose biological mothers have repartnered have risks for food insecurity comparable to those in single-mother families, the probability of CFI does not differ by family structure when household income, family size, and maternal race, ethnicity, education, and age were held at mean levels.
Daniel P. Miller is with the School of Social Work, Boston University, Boston, MA. Lenna Nepomnyaschy is with the School of Social Work, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Gabriel Lara Ibarra is with the World Bank, Washington, DC. Steven Garasky is with IMPAQ International, Columbia, MD.
Daniel P
DP
Miller
Lenna
L
Nepomnyaschy
Gabriel Lara
GL
Ibarra
Steven
S
Garasky
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008393:Marriage; D020954:Single-Parent Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology