Testing the economic independence hypothesis: the effect of an exogenous increase in child support on subsequent marriage and cohabitation

Testing the Economic Independence Hypothesis: Union Formation Among Single Mothers in Chile

Despite the increasing proportion of single-mother families, the literature on union formation among unpartnered parents in Latin America is scant. Using a sample from a Chilean longitudinal survey ( N = 3,318), we estimated regression models to test associations between single mothers’ economic resources in 2010 and coresidence with the biological father of their children in 2012. We also examined whether these associations differed in subgroups with higher rates of labor market participation. We found that mothers’ paid work was not associated with union formation. Receiving government benefits and living with a parent were associated with lower probability of coresidence with the biological father, even among the most advantaged subgroups. We conclude that in contexts in which most mothers of young children are not doing paid work, economic resources coming from government and extended family may be more consequential than earnings’ potential in influencing single mothers’ union formation behavior.

Breaking the cycle of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Economic position moderates the relationship between mother and child ACE scores among Black and Hispanic families

IMPORTANCE

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are prevalent, preventable, and a public health issue that cycles from one generation to the next with serious implications for health and wellbeing, particularly. Research is needed to identify factors, including those related to economic position (i.e., wage, net family wealth, home ownership), that break the cycle of ACEs and inform decisions about policies, practices, and programs.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether economic position moderates the association between mother's ACE score and child's ACE score and whether these pathways differ by race and ethnicity.

DESIGN

Conducted regression and moderation analysis using mother-child dyadic data from panel surveys, stratified by race. The simple slopes for the interactions were probed to determine the magnitude and significance of the interaction.

SETTING

Secondary data analysis utilizing data from two cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys: 1) National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979; and 2) National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Children and Young Adults.

PARTICIPANTS

The sample included 6,261 children and 2,967 matched mothers.

MAIN OUTCOMES S AND MEASURES

The outcome variable was the child's ACE score. Mother's ACE score was the independent variable. Three economic position moderators were examined: mother's and her spouse's average wage and salary, average net family wealth, and percent of time owning a home during her child's first five years of life.

RESULTS

Mother's ACE score was positively associated with her child's ACE score. Economic position was a significant moderator for Black families. Higher wages and net family wealth during children's first five years were associated with weakened associations between mother and child ACEs for Black families. For Hispanic families, higher wages and salary were significantly associated with weakened associations. Among White families, higher net family wealth was associated with stronger ACEs transmission.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Taken together, these findings highlight the important role that economic position may play on breaking the cycle of ACEs. This information can inform decisions about what public assistance policies, practices, and programs may be used to improve economic stability among families as an effective ACEs prevention strategy, and for whom these strategies might be most effective at reducing the cycle of ACEs.

The Economic Foundations of Cohabiting Couples' Union Transitions

In recent decades, cohabitation has become an increasingly important relationship context for U.S. adults and their children, a union status characterized by high levels of instability. To understand why some cohabiting couples marry but others separate, researchers have drawn on theories emphasizing the benefits of specialization, the persistence of the male breadwinner norm, low income as a source of stress and conflict, and rising economic standards associated with marriage (the marriage bar). Because of conflicting evidence and data constraints, however, important theoretical questions remain. This study uses survival analysis with prospective monthly data from nationally representative panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation from 1996-2013 to test alternative theories of how money and work affect whether cohabiting couples marry or separate. Analyses indicate that the economic foundations of cohabiting couples' union transitions do not lie in economic specialization or only men's ability to be good providers. Instead, results for marriage support marriage bar theory: adjusting for couples' absolute earnings, increases in wealth and couples' earnings relative to a standard associated with marriage strongly predict marriage. For dissolution, couples with higher and more equal earnings are significantly less likely to separate. Findings demonstrate that within-couple earnings equality promotes stability, and between-couple inequalities in economic resources are critical in producing inequalities in couples' relationship outcomes.

A Research Note on the Stability of Coresidential Unions Formed Postconception

There is a large literature examining the stability of mid-pregnancy unions, and parallel work on unions formed after a nonmarital birth, but research has yet to compare pre- and post-birth unions and simultaneously consider whether the union is with the father or a new partner. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort, the author compares the stability of coresidential unions (cohabitations and marriages) among three groups of mothers with non-union first conceptions: those with a mid-pregnancy union with the father (N = 203), those with a post-birth union with the father (N = 333), and those with a union with a new partner (N = 342). Compared to mid-pregnancy unions with the father, post-birth father unions are 35% more likely to dissolve. New-partner unions are more likely to dissolve than both types of father unions. These associations persist when accounting for union type and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.

Effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Hospital Admissions for Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma, 1995-2013

OBJECTIVES

Policies that increase household income, such as the earned income tax credit (EITC), have shown reductions on risk factors for child maltreatment (ie, poverty, maternal stress, depression), but evidence is lacking on whether the EITC actually reduces child maltreatment. We examined whether states' EITCs are associated with state rates of hospital admissions for abusive head trauma among children aged <2 years.

METHODS

We conducted difference-in-difference analyses (ie, pre- and postdifferences in intervention vs control groups) of annual rates of states' hospital admissions attributed to abusive head trauma among children aged <2 years (ie, using aggregate data). We conducted analyses in 14 states with, and 13 states without, an EITC from 1995 to 2013, differentiating refundable EITCs (ie, tax filer gets money even if taxes are not owed) from nonrefundable EITCs (ie, tax filer gets credit only for any tax owed), controlling for state rates of child poverty, unemployment, high school graduation, and percentage of non-Latino white people.

RESULTS

A refundable EITC was associated with a decrease of 3.1 abusive head trauma admissions per 100 000 population in children aged <2 years after controlling for confounders ( P = .08), but a nonrefundable EITC was not associated with a decrease ( P = .49). Tax refunds ranged from $108 to $1014 and $165 to $1648 for a single parent working full-time at minimum wage with 1 child or 2 children, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings with others suggest that policies such as the EITC that increase household income may prevent serious abusive head trauma.

Fathers' Imprisonment and Mothers' Multiple-Partner Fertility

We consider the intersection between two striking U.S. trends: dramatic increases in the imprisonment of fathers and increases in the proportion of mothers who have children with more than one partner (multiple-partner fertility, or MPF). Using matched longitudinal administrative data that provide unusually comprehensive and accurate information about the occurrence and timing of imprisonment, fertility, and MPF for the population of the state of Wisconsin, we consider the relationship between paternal imprisonment and MPF among unwed mothers. Employing discrete-time event history analysis with multinomial logistic regression, we model the occurrence and timing of the mother's second birth, distinguishing between a birth with the same father and a birth with a different father, and distinguishing between current imprisonment and a history of imprisonment. We find that current imprisonment is associated with an increased likelihood of MPF and a decreased likelihood of fertility with the same father (compared with no additional birth) and that a history of imprisonment is associated with increased MPF in some models but not in our preferred model. To control for unobserved heterogeneity among mothers and assess the evidence of a causal effect of fathers' imprisonment, we also employ the case-time-control method, a fixed-effects method for the analysis of nonrepeated events. Results suggest that fathers' current imprisonment may increase mothers' MPF. Policy implications are discussed.

Racial Inequality Trends and the Intergenerational Persistence of Income and Family Structure

Racial disparity in family incomes remained remarkably stable over the past 40 years in the United States despite major legal and social reforms. Previous scholarship presents two primary explanations for persistent inequality through a period of progressive change. One highlights continuity: because socioeconomic status is transmitted from parents to children, disparities created through histories of discrimination and opportunity denial may dissipate slowly. The second highlights change: because family income results from joining individual earnings in family units, changing family compositions can offset individuals' changing economic chances. I examine whether black-white family income inequality trends are better characterized by the persistence of existing disadvantage (continuity) or shifting forms of disadvantage (change). I combine cross-sectional and panel analysis using Current Population Survey, Panel Study of Income Dynamics, Census, and National Vital Statistics data. Results suggest that African Americans experience relatively extreme intergenerational continuity (low upward mobility) and discontinuity (high downward mobility); both helped maintain racial inequality. Yet, intergenerational discontinuities allow new forms of disadvantage to emerge. On net, racial inequality trends are better characterized by changing forms of disadvantage than by continuity. Economic trends were equalizing but demographic trends were disequalizing; as family structures shifted, family incomes did not fully reflect labor-market gains.

The evolution of family complexity from the perspective of nonmarital children

We document the incidence and evolution of family complexity from the perspective of children. Following a cohort of firstborn children whose mothers were not married at the time of their birth, we consider family structure changes over the first 10 years of the child's life-considering both full and half-siblings who are coresidential or who live in another household. We rely on detailed longitudinal administrative data from Wisconsin that include information on the timing of subsequent births to the mother and father, and detailed information on earnings, child support, and welfare. We find that 60% of firstborn children of unmarried mothers have at least one half-sibling by age 10. Our results highlight the importance of having fertility information for both fathers and mothers: estimates of the proportion of children with half-siblings would be qualitatively lower if we had fertility information on only one parent. Complex family structures are more likely for children of parents who are younger or who have low earnings and for those in larger urban areas. Children who have half-siblings on their mother's side are also more likely to have half-siblings on their father's side, and vice versa, contributing to very complex family structures-and potential child support arrangements-for some children.