Children In Single-mother Families Research Articles

TANF at 25: A Weaker Cash Safety Net Reaching Fewer Families and doing Less to Lift Families out of Deep Poverty

We analyze the 25-year trajectory of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the nation’s cash safety net for families with children. Since its creation, TANF’s story has been one of greatly diminished access, low benefits, and states diverting funding away from cash assistance, changes that have disproportionately affected the assistance available to Black families. We document how the weakened safety net under TANF contributed to a rise in deep poverty among children in single-mother families and how two defining features of TANF — work requirements and time limits — contributed to TANF’s weakness. Finally, we make policy recommendations to address TANF’s failures.

Adverse childhood experiences among children placed in and adopted from foster care: Evidence from a nationally representative survey

Despite good reason to believe that children in foster care are disproportionately exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), relatively little research considers exposure to ACEs among this group of vulnerable children. In this article, we use data from the 2011–2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized children ages 0–17 in the United States, to estimate the association between foster care placement and exposure to an array of ACEs. In adjusted logistic regression models, we find that children placed in foster care or adopted from foster care, compared to their counterparts, were more likely to experience parental divorce or separation, parental death, parental incarceration, parental abuse, violence exposure, household member mental illness, and household member substance abuse. These children were also more likely to experience ACEs than children across different thresholds of socioeconomic disadvantage (e.g., children in households with incomes below the poverty line) and across different family structures (e.g., children in single-mother families). These results advance our understanding of how children in foster care, an already vulnerable population, are disproportionately exposed to ACEs. This exposure, given the link between ACEs and health, may have implications for children’s health and wellbeing throughout the life course.

Nonresident Fathers and Child Food Insecurity: Evidence from Longitudinal Data

More than 1 in 10 children in the United States experience food insecurity, and children in single-mother families are at greatest risk. We examine the associations of nonresident father involvement and child food insecurity using two nationally representative panel data sets of children in early and middle childhood. Nonresident father involvement, based on a comprehensive index, is associated with lower food insecurity in both early and middle childhood, and this is robust to different model specifications. Fathers’ provision of in-kind support is a particularly salient indicator of involvement for both groups of children. We find some evidence that irregular cash support, compared to no support, increases food insecurity for children in middle childhood. These results add to mounting evidence that nonresident father involvement outside of the formal child support system positively affects children and must be considered in policy discussions related to child support, child poverty, and child well-being.

Family Structure, Gender, and Adolescent Emotional Well-Being

This article focuses on gender differences in emotional well-being of adolescents in five different family settings. It analyzes two main mediators—economic deprivation and parental socialization—and is based on unusually rich survey data combining parental and child reports as well as information from administrative registers. The results show lower well-being of children in single-mother families and stepfamilies. These associations are mainly mediated through parental socialization rather than economic deprivation, except for girls in their early to midteens living with a single mother. Different patterns of lower well-being levels for boys and girls in different family settings are found.

Family structure and the intergenerational transmission of educational advantage

I examine whether the effect of parents’ education on children’s educational achievement and attainment varies by family structure and, if so, whether this can be explained by differential parenting practices. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, I find that as parents’ education increases, children in single mother families experience a lower boost in their achievement test scores, likelihood of attending any post-secondary schooling, likelihood of completing a 4-year college degree, and years of completed schooling relative to children living with both biological parents. Differences in parents’ educational expectations, intergenerational closure, and children’s involvement in structured leisure activities partially explain these status transmission differences by family structure. The findings imply that, among children with highly educated parents, children of single mothers are less likely to be highly educated themselves relative to children who grow up with both biological parents.

Family Structure and the Treatment of Childhood Asthma

Family structure is known to influence children's behavioral, educational, and cognitive outcomes, and recent studies suggest that family structure affects children's access to health care as well. However, no study has addressed whether family structure is associated with the care children receive for particular conditions or with their physical health outcomes. To assess the effects of family structure on the treatment and outcomes of children with asthma. Our data sources were the 1996-2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). The study samples consisted of children 2-17 years of age with asthma who lived in single-mother or 2-parent families. We assessed the effect of number of parents and number of other children in the household on office visits for asthma and use of asthma medications using negative binomial regression, and we assessed the effect of family structure on the severity of asthma symptoms using binary and ordinal logistic regression. Our regression models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, parental experience in child-rearing and in caring for an asthmatic child and, when appropriate, measures of children's health status. Asthmatic children in single-mother families had fewer office visits for asthma and filled fewer prescriptions for controller medications than children with 2 parents. In addition, children living in families with 3 or more other children had fewer office visits and filled fewer prescriptions for reliever and controller medications than children living with no other children. Children from single-mother families had more health difficulties from asthma than children with 2 parents, and children living with 2 or more other children were more likely to have an asthma attack in the past 12 months than children living with no other children. For children with asthma, living with a single mother and the presence of additional children in the household are associated with less treatment for asthma and worse asthma outcomes.

Effects of Family Structure on Children's Use of Ambulatory Visits and Prescription Medications

To examine the effects of family structure, including number of parents, number of other children, and number and type of other adults, on office visits, emergency room visits, and use of prescription medications by children. The Household Component of the 1996-2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The study consisted of a nationally representative sample of children 0-17 years of age living in single-mother or two-parent families. We used negative binomial regression to model office visits and emergency room visits and logistic regression to model the likelihood of prescription medication use. Our analyses adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as measures of children's health and parental education and child-rearing experience. We combined 1996-2001 MEPS Full Year Consolidated Files and Medical Conditions Files. Descriptive data showed that children in single-mother families had fewer office visits than children in two-parent families; however, the effect of number of parents in the family on children's office visits or use of prescription medications was completely explained by other explanatory variables. By contrast, children living in families with many other children had fewer total and physician office visits and a lower likelihood of using a prescription medication than children living in families with no other children even after adjusting for other explanatory variables. Children who lived with other adults in addition to their parents also had fewer office visits and a lower likelihood of using a prescription medication than children who lived only with their parents. Children living in families with many other children or with other adults use less ambulatory care and prescription medications than their peers. Additional research is needed to determine whether these differences in utilization affect children's health.

The Effect of Parental Presence, Parents’ Education, and Household Headship on Adolescents’ Schooling and Work in Latin America

We investigate how the presence and education of parents affect adolescents’ school attendance, work participation, and school attainment in Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Panama. Across the four countries, approximately 20% of adolescents live in single-mother families and 4% in single-father families. Adolescents who live in single-mother families have significantly lower school attendance and attainment than adolescents who live with both parents. However, the effects of living in a single-mother family are small relative to the effects of parents’ education. Adolescents who live in single-mother families are not more likely to work than adolescents in two-parent families. Finally, targeting benefits to children in single-mother families would reach more children at risk of poor school outcomes than targeting children in female-headed households.

Structural theory and relative poverty in rich Western democracies, 1969–2000

This study assesses if structural theory explains the variation in poverty across rich Western democracies. With unbalanced panel analysis of 18 countries, two poverty measures and controlling for the welfare state and economic performance, I examine five structural factors: manufacturing employment, agricultural employment, female labor force participation, the elderly population, and children in single mother families. Manufacturing employment, female labor force participation, elderly population, and children in single mother families significantly influence the headcount measure of poverty, while agricultural employment is insignificant. By contrast, all five structural variables are insignificant for the interval measure of poverty. For the headcount, the structural variables have a more powerful influence than economic growth (the only significant indicator of economic performance) but a smaller influence than the welfare state. For the interval measure, the welfare state has a much larger influence than economic growth, and the insignificant structural and other economic variables. Counterfactual simulations are used to illustrate consequences of these effects for the U.S., Germany, and Sweden. Sensitivity analyses demonstrate the main conclusions hold regardless of the U.S. cases. Though structural variables influence one of the two poverty measures, the welfare state is most important to explaining poverty in rich Western democracies.

Child Well-Being in Single-Mother Families

Children from single-mother families are at increased risk of psychosocial morbidity. This article examines the strength of association between single-mother family status and child outcome, both alone and controlling for other sociodemographic and personal (maternal/family) variables. Data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth Cycle 1 (1994-1995) were used. Children aged 6 to 11 years in single-mother and two-parent families were included (n = 9,398). Child functioning measures included social impairment, psychiatric problems, and math score. Single-mother family status on its own is a significant predictor of all child difficulties, but the explained variance is limited and the effect size decreases when other variables known to influence child functioning are included. Household income, a sociodemographic variable, is inversely associated with social impairment and positively associated with math score. Hostile parenting and maternal depression are the personal variables most strongly associated with social impairment and psychiatric problems. Children in single-mother families where there is hostile parenting are at significantly increased risk of psychiatric problems. The results suggest that children from single-mother families develop difficulties for the same reasons as children from two-parent families. Specific interventions for single-mother families may be warranted in the areas of parenting and other areas of concentrated risk.

Maternal depression and physical punishment as mediators of the effect of poverty on socioemotional problems of children in single-mother families.

Data from a national sample of 878 4-9-year-old children in single-mother families were used to test a structural model of the effect of poverty on children's socioemotional problems. Results show that the effect of poverty is mediated by maternal depression and mothers' use of physical punishment. Maternal depression influence children's socioemotional problems directly, as well as indirectly through physical punishment.

Maternal depression and physical punishment as mediators of the effect of poverty on socioemotional problems of children in single-mother families.

Maternal depression and physical punishment as mediators of the effect of poverty on socioemotional problems of children in single-mother families.

The Effects of Single-Mother Families and Nonresident Fathers on Delinquency and Substance Abuse in Black and White Adolescents

In this study, we examine the impact of singlemother families and nonresident father's involvement in single-mother families on delinquency, heavy drinking, and illicit drug use in Black and White adolescents by gender. The study is based on a representative household sample of over 600 adolescents and their parents. Using adolescent reports of support as an indicator of nonresident father involvement, we find that for White adolescent males, nonresident father involvement buffers the negative effects of single-mother families on delinquency, heavy drinking, and illicit drug use. Indeed, the highest rates of problem behavior are found among White male adolescents in singlemother families without the support of a nonresident father. However, for Black male adolescents, we find fewer problem behaviors when nonresident fathers are not involved in single-mother families. Key Words: adolescent substance abuse, African Americans, delinquency, gender, fathers, race, single mothers. As we approach the point where close to half the children growing up are likely to spend some time in a single-mother home, many researchers are now raising questions about the conditions under which single-mother families function well (Furstenberg & Harris, 1993; Furstenberg, Morgan, & Allison, 1987; King 1994a, 1994b). Rather than focusing on the negative outcomes in single-mother families, more researchers are asking questions about the conditions under which children in single-mother families show resilience-function well when the risk factors in their lives suggest they could be functioning poorly. This new approach to single-mother families not only may provide useful information to parents and counselors, it also may contribute toward understanding some of the inconsistencies in the findings from previous research on the effects of single-mother families on delinquency and substance abuse in adolescents. Although numerous studies show that children who grow up in single-parent families have more negative outcomes than those with both parents (e.g., Dornbusch et al., 1985; Flewelling & Bauman, 1990; Garasky, 1995; Hetherington, Camara, & Featherman, 1983; McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994; Newcomer & Udry, 1987; Zill, 1988), several studies show either that family structure has only negligible impact on child outcomes or that children from single-mother families are no more likely to be delinquent or use alcohol and other drugs than children from two-parent families (Turner, Irwin, & Millstone, 1991; Watts & Watts, 1991). Recent reviews of research suggest that the inconsistencies in the findings may be due to several factors (see King, 1994a; Wells & Rankin, 1991). First, much of the research is based on small convenience samples. Besides the possibility of sample bias, a small sample size does not allow for exploring whether single-mother families have different effects for different subgroups of the population. Second, many studies make generalizations about the impact of family structure on adolescent outcomes based on data collected two or three decades ago. Since that time, the proportion of single-mother families has sharply increased; this societal change may have resulted in single-mother families becoming more normative and more effective at childrearing. Third, the effects of single-mother families may be different for White and Black adolescents because of the subcultural differences in the meaning and the degree of the institutionalization of single-mother families. Fourth, most previous research has not taken into account the involvement of nonresident fathers in the socialization of children in single-mother families (see Furstenberg & Harris, 1993; King, 1994a). Although children in some single-mother families are cut off from their fathers, those in other families have fathers who are actively involved in their care and socialization. Father involvement may be a particularly important factor to take into account when explaining the variation in the effects of singlemother families on male and female adolescents. …

Family Type and Children's Growth in Reading and Math Over the Primary Grades

In a random sample of Baltimore school children over the first 2 years of school, there are no direct effects of parent configuration on marks or test score gains in reading and math with one exception: African American children in singlemother families where other adults are present got higher marks in reading at the beginning of Ist grade than did their counterparts in motheronly or mother-father families. Irrespective of family type, however, children whose families had more economic resources and whose parents had higher expectations for their school performance consistently outperformed other children in reading and math. These findings suggest that the effects of parents' psychological and economic resources that are correlated with family type go far toward explaining previous reports of schooling deficits for children from single-parent homes, especially in the early grades. Key Words: early schooling, family type, father influence. FAMILY STRUCTURE AND CHILDREN'S COGNITIVE GROWTH IN PRIMARY GRADES The new American dilemma-limited life chances and outlook for the large number of children living in families with single parents-perplexes policymakers and public alike (Garfinkel & McLanahan, 1986; Kamerman & Kahn, 1988). Increasingly, a major factor limiting the prospects of children from single-parent families is their poor school performance, and, as the number of single parents continues to rise, this problem becomes more pressing. Between 1970 and 1991, the proportion of children maintained by the mother jumped from 11% to 22% (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1992). More than 25 million children were living in families that did not contain two parents in 1988, and estimates are that nearly half of all children will spend some part of their childhood in a single-mother household (Castro-Martin & Bumpass, 1989). For African Americans, single parenting is the modal pattern; in 1992 only 38% of African American children lived with two parents (U.S. Department of Commerce,1992). There is reason for serious concern. Children from single-parent homes repeat grades more often, drop out of school earlier, and generally do not perform as well in school as their counterparts who come from two-parent families (see Garfinkel & McLanahan, 1986; Hetherington, Camara, & Featherman, 1983; McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). For example, the risk for grade repetition in 1988 was between 40% and 75% higher for children of single mothers than for children living with both biological parents (Dawson, 1991). Educational problems are especially severe for children of single mothers who are poor. A child of a single parent living in poverty is from 11% to 26% more likely to be behind in school than a child of the same sex and ethnicity who resides in a husband-wife family with income above the poverty level (Bianchi, 1984). The various aspects of the school performance of children from single-parent homes are not thought to be equally problematic, however. In the past, children of single parents were reported to do almost as well as others on standardized tests, whether IQ or achievement (see Hetherington et al., 1983), but not as well as others in terms of the more subjective aspects of students' role performance. For example, children from single-parent homes get lower marks across the board than do children from two-parent homes (Shinn, 1978), and deportment marks seem especially problematic (Thompson, Alexander, & Entwisle, 1988). There are several reasons why single parenting could have negative effects on children's schooling, chief among them the relative dearth of economic resources in single-parent homes (Entwisle & Alexander, 1995). McLanahan and her colleagues (Garfinkel & McLanahan, 1986; McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994) estimate that about half of the single-parent effect on schooling stems from economic deprivation. A second reason is the absence of the father. …

The Effects of Child Support Payments on Developmental Outcomes for Elementary School-Age Children

Past research suggests that increasing the incomes of single mothers will bring intergenerational benefits. However, some sources of income may be more beneficial to children than others. This paper evaluates the effects of child support payments from absent fathers on children's achievement test scores and home environments, using three methods to control for heterogeneity among families. The results provide evidence that increased child support payments may improve the academic achievement of elementary school-age children even more than income from other sources. While overall family income appears to affect levels of cognitive stimulation available in children's homes, child support does not have larger effects than other sources of income. These findings suggest that increasing the financial contributions of absent fathers through improved child support enforcement or other interventions may be a particularly beneficial income support strategy for children in single mother families.

Single Mothers “At Risk” For Child Maltreatment: An Appraisal of Person-Centred Interventions and a Call for Emancipatory Action

In this paper, I explore interventions with single mothers who are “at risk” for perpetrating child maltreatment. I will (a) challenge some of the underlying assumptions and social/political implications of person-centred interventions with single mothers, and (b) identify some of the principles and criteria that might be used to guide and evaluate more emancipatory alternatives. Like other feminist critics of social policy and child welfare, I will suggest that the well-being of children in single-mother families is rooted, not within inherent deficits in the mothering skills of single mothers, but within the disadvantaged position of women—and their children—in patriarchal/capitalist societies. Further, I will suggest that monolithic, decontextualized accounts of single motherhood do not serve the needs of single mothers or their children. Finally, I will conclude that child maltreatment can be prevented, at least in part, through collective action, including politically conscious mutual aid, and broader changes in social and economic policy.

A Comparison of Children Living in Single-Mother and Single-Father Families

Research comparing children living in single-mother and single-father families has become important due to the increase in the number of parents contesting custody in divorce cases and as the number of single custodial fathers increases. The present study was designed to investigate a number of characteristics relating to children living in single-father families (SFFs) and in single-mother families (SMFs). Previous research has suggested that in the case of separation and/or divorce the mother is the more competent parent to raise the children. However, recent studies have provided some support for the idea that single fathers can be effective single parents. The subject sample included 42 single divorced custodial parents (21 single mothers and 21 single fathers) and their 62 (6- to 16-year-old) children. The measures employed were The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC; Harter, 1985) and The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983). One-way MANCOVA and ANCOVA procedures were performed and it was found that the overall scores of children from single-father families (SFFs) did not differ significantly from children in single-mother families (SMFs) on the SPPC and the CBCL. The implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.