Comparing Mechanisms to Child Outcomes from Long-Term Economic Well-Being Measured with the Official Poverty Measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure

Abstract

We used Panel Study of Income Dynamics data to compare paths to nine child outcomes from long-term economic well-being calculated using either the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) or the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Our sample included 953 10- to 18-year-old U.S. children. We used structural equation models to assess two broad mechanisms: the child’s home environment and parental mental health concerns. The portion of the relationship between our child outcomes and long-term economic well-being that was mediated by parental mental health concerns was generally similar with the OPM and SPM measures; on average, that mechanism explained about 8% of that relationship with the OPM measure and about 5% of that relationship with the SPM measure. However, the portion of that relationship that was mediated by the home environment was always much larger with the OPM measure than with the SPM measure; on average, that mechanism explained about 20% of that relationship with the OPM measure, but only about 5% of that relationship with the SPM measure. These results suggest that programs designed to enhance child outcomes by addressing parents’ mental health needs could use either OPM- or SPM-based measures to select families, but that OPM-based measures may be more effective to select families for programs designed to enhance child outcomes by improving the child’s home environment.