Recent trends in the inheritance of poverty and family structure

Abstract

January 17, 2004Trends in the Inheritance of Poverty and Family Structure RECENT TRENDS IN THE INHERITANCE OF POVERTY AND FAMILY STRUCTUREABSTRACT. This study investigates trends in the interdependence of poverty and family structure from one generation to the next, focusing specifically on mothers and daughters. This aspect of the mobility process has not been explored, despite widespread concern about the life chances of children in poor single-parent families and dramatic changes in the distributions of poverty and family structure in recent decades. We examine origin-by-destination status along the two dimensions of poverty and family structure, using rich panel data and loglinear models to parse out the associations between poverty and family structure within and across generations. Our results show that the intergenerational associations between poverty and family structure are strong, but operate through largely independent pathways. Net of the correlation between poverty and family structure within a generation, the intergenerational transmission of poverty is significantly stronger than the intergenerational transmission of family structure, and neither childhood poverty nor family structure affects the other in adulthood. Finally, despite important changes in the distributions of poverty and family structure, we find no evidence of change in the processes of intergenerational inheritance over time.Trends in the Inheritance of Poverty and Family Structure, Page 1 RECENT TRENDS IN THE INHERITANCE OF POVERTY AND FAMILY STRUCTUREIntergenerational social mobility is a key feature of inequalities in socioeconomic opportunities and rewards. Sociological studies of mobility trends, which focus mainly on occupational mobility, tend to emphasize the mobility opportunities of individuals as The growing share of children in poor single-parent families has generated concern in policy and academic circles. This concern stems not only from the potential hardships children face growing up, but also from the long-term implications of poverty and single parenthood for their success later in life. Children who grow up poor or spend time in a single-parent family are more likely to experience poverty and single parenthood as adults. Prior research demonstrates the intergenerational associations between poverty and family structure, but generally focuses on either poverty or family structure effects without fully accounting for the interdependence of the two.Understanding how poverty and family structure are transmitted from one generation to the next requires a careful accounting of the correlation between poverty and family structure within a generation, as well as the potential interactions between poverty and family structure across generations. Estimating the direct intergenerational effects of poverty and family structure are critical for mapping the processes through which poverty and single parenthood matter for children -and for designing policies to best address the needs of families.We investigate the interdepen...

Mother’s educational level and single motherhood: Comparing Spain and Italy

“…Any flow of migrants with different patterns of family formation and dissolution related to the country of origin could affect the relationship between educational level and family structure. On the other hand, several studies show that there is an intergenerational transmission of family structure (Dronkers and Härkönen 2008;Musick and Mare 2006), and that women nurtured in highly educated families have been socialized in liberal values and norms and are therefore more likely to be single mothers (Lyngstad 2006;Schröder 2006). Furthermore, the likelihood of single motherhood varies by place of residence depending on the degree of urbanization and 'modernization'.…”

“…We used the 2005 and 2011 waves of the EU-SILC, which include an intergenerational module containing information on attributes related to the family of origin − useful information given the intergenerational transmission of single motherhood (Dronkers and Härkönen 2008;Musick and Mare 2006). In addition, these two waves offer information from periods before and after the economic crisis.…”

Vulnerability, risk, and the transition to adulthood

“…A long literature, spanning multiple disciplinary fields, has established an empirical link between the vulnerabilities experienced by youth in their childhood and their connection to school and the labor market as young adults (Aaronson andMazumder 2008, Musick andMare 2006). Even in societies that pride themselves on economic mobility, such as the United States, a substantial amount of variation in earnings, education, and employment in young adulthood can be accounted for by the earnings, education and employment experiences of a youth's family.…”

Compensation and other forms of accumulation in intergenerational social inequality

“…The literature suggests that the positive effects of parental resources are based on either investments that parents are able to make in their children or parental endowments that their children can benefit from (Becker and Tomes 1976;Coleman 1988;Rosenzweig 1990;Musick and Mare 2006;Esping-Andersen 2015). Endowments may include almost anything that parents have and that are potentially advantageous, from genes to social networks and economic assets, while investments largely consist of money and time spent with children.…”