Trends in Children's Family Instability, 1995–2010

• Author: J. Bart Stykes,Wendy D. Manning,Susan L. Brown
• Published date: 01 October 2016
• Date: 01 October 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12311

S L. B Bowling Green State University

J. B S Sam Houston State University∗

W D. M Bowling Green State University∗∗

Trends in Children’s Family Instability, 1995–2010

Using data from the 1995 and 2006–2010

National Survey of Family Growth, the authors’

study examined children’s family instability

from birth to age 12, emphasizing variation

by racial and ethnic group. Period and cohort

estimates revealed little change in children’s

experiences of family transitions during the

past decade. Family instability levels were com-

parable for White and Hispanic children, and

this pattern persisted over time. However, there

was an increase in family instability among

Black children, reecting growth in the share of

children born to single mothers who eventually

formed partnerships. Indeed, children born to

single mothers in the more recent cohort expe-

rienced more family transitions, on average,

than did the earlier cohort, but family insta-

bility for children born to cohabiting mothers

remained unchanged. This study elucidates the

various family life course trajectories children

experience, revealing how these patterns differ

depending on family context at birth and by

racial and ethnic group.

The living arrangements of children are increas-

ingly diverse. This variation is evident from

birth, as a growing share of children are born

Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University,

Bowling Green, OH 43403 (brownsl@bgsu.edu).

∗Department of Sociology, Sam Houston State University,

Huntsville, TX 77341.

∗∗Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State

University,Bowling Green, OH 43403.

Key Words: children, cohabitation, ethnicity, family forma-

tion, marriage.

outside of marriage. Today, over 40% of births

are to unmarried mothers, and more than half of

these births occur to cohabiting couples (Man-

ning, Brown, & Stykes, 2015). Children born

outside of marriage are at greater risk of family

instability during childhood relative to children

born to married parents (Manning, 2015; Raley

& Wildsmith, 2004). In turn, family instability

is consequential for children’s development and

well-being (Brown, 2010; Crosnoe & Cavanagh,

2010). Stable family living arrangements during

childhood are associated with more benecial

outcomes for children.

Recent family trends portend growth in

family instability during childhood. In addition

to the rise in unmarried births, the continued

growth in cohabitation and serial cohabita-

tion, as well as the decreasing tendency for

cohabitation to culminate in marriage, point to

more family transitions for children (Cohen &

Manning, 2010; Guzzo, 2014a, 2014b; Lichter,

Turner, & Sassler, 2010). Even children in mar-

ried families may experience less stability today

than in the past given new evidence that divorce

has been climbing during the past few decades

(Kennedy & Ruggles, 2014). Also, the growth

in multiple-partner fertility coincides with the

“marriage-go-round” of partnerships identied

by Cherlin (2009) that translate into high levels

of partnership formation and dissolution by par-

ents. All of these changes in family behaviors

suggest that children experience more family

instability than they did a generation ago.

Moreover, today’s children are more racially

and ethnically diverse (Johnson & Lichter,

2010). In 1990, one third of children were

racial/ethnic minorities. By 2008, the share

had climbed to 43% of all children. The two

Journal of Marriage and Family 78 (October 2016): 1173–1183 1173

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12311