The Changing Association Among Marriage, Work, and Child Poverty in the United States, 1974–2010

• Published date: 01 October 2015
• Date: 01 October 2015
• Author: Regina S. Baker
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12216

R S. B University of Pennsylvania

The Changing Association Among Marriage, Work,

and Child Poverty in the United States, 1974–2010

Marriage and work have long been central

to debates regarding poverty and the family.

Although ample research has demonstrated

their negative association with child poverty,

both marriage and work have undergone major

transformations over recent decades. Conse-

quently, it is plausible that their association with

child poverty may have also changed. Using

10 waves of U.S. Census Current Population

Survey data from the LuxembourgIncome Study,

this study examined the relationships among

marriage, work, and relat ive measures of child

poverty from 1974 to 2010. The resultsindicated

that both marriage and work still decrease the

odds of child poverty. However, time interac-

tions showed marriage’s negative association

with child poverty has declined in magnitude,

whereas work’s negative association with child

poverty has increased in magnitude. These

ndings underscore the historically varying

inuence of demographic characteristics for

poverty. They also suggest the limitations of

overemphasizing marriage and the growing

importance of work for reducing child poverty

in America.

The United States stands out for its failure to

signicantly reduce child poverty over the past

few decades and its unusually high child poverty

rates relative to other rich countries (Gornick

& Jäntti, 2012; Rainwater & Smeeding, 2004).

Department of Sociology, Universityof Pennsylvania, 218

McNeil Building, 3781 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA

19104 (regbaker@sas.upenn.edu).

Key Words: employment, inequality, marriage, poverty.

Accordingly, there has been vibrant scholarly

literature concerning poverty among chil-

dren and families (see Edin & Kissane, 2010;

Lichter, 1997; Seccombe, 2000). Marriage and

work have been central to this scholarship and

related policy debates. The continued focus on

marriage and work in alleviating child poverty

is salient given the major transformations in

these institutions. Whereas a married couple

with children was once the norm, nonmari-

tal births and single-parent households have

become commonplace. Moreover, divorce rates

remain relatively high; cohabitation is increas-

ing; Americans are choosing to marry later, if

at all; and marriage has become a more selec-

tive institution (Cherlin, 2009; Raley, 2000).

The attributes and patterns of work have also

changed greatly. Median wages have stagnated,

earnings inequality has worsened (Bluestone

& Harrison, 2001; Mishel, Birens, Gould, &

Shierhotz, 2012), and female labor force partic-

ipation has increased dramatically (Lichter &

Crowley,2004). There has also been a decline in

well-paid blue-collar work, growth in part-time

jobs, and greater job insecurity (Kalleberg,

2007; Mishel et al., 2012). Although it is well

documented that marriage and work decrease a

child’s odds of being poor, these changes raise

the question of whether their associations with

child poverty have also changed over time. In

this study I addressed this query.

B

Theories Why Marriage and Work Are

Associated With Poverty

There are several causal explanations for why

marriage affects child poverty. First, marriage

1166 Journal of Marriage and Family 77 (October 2015): 1166–1178

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12216