Search

Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics Yuan-Chiao Lu, Ph.D. Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Room A-2066, Bethesda, MD 20814 yuan-chiao.lu.ctr@usuhs.edu Comparison of Poverty and Income Disparity of Single Mothers and Fathers in the United States: New Evidence from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics Yuan-Chiao Lu, Nilam Patel, Patrick Richard Introduction  The family structure in American society has changed in the past few decades because of a rise in the divorce rate and unmarried women with children [1-3].  A recent study by Kramer et al. [4] explored income disparity and poverty status between currently employed single mothers and fathers and found that single mothers were more likely to be in poverty at far greater rates than single fathers. However, while Kramer’s study was very informative, all explanatory variables of demographic factors used in the analysis were statistically significant because of a large sample size (N = 554,633).  The current study attempts to replicate Kramer’s study while improving on model specification by combining data from the 2011 and 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to explore the effects of demographic factors on the income and poverty status of working single fathers and single mothers. Methods Results Discussion Reference Results  Data source: Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), Year 2011 and Year 2013  Subject inclusion  Working single parent householders  Householders: 18-64 years old  At least one child under 18 years old in the household  Householders were currently employed  Householders that received income from wages or salary in the previous year  Dependent variables  Taxable income: income from assets, earnings, and net profit from farm or business  Non-work income: sum of social security income, welfare income, supplemental security income, interest income, dividend and transfer income, and retirement income  Total income: sum of taxable income an, The family structure in American society has changed in the past few decades because of a rise in the divorce rate and unmarried women with children. Single-parent families have experienced deterioration in their economic well-being following the recession of 2007-2009. A recent study by Kramer et al. (2016) explored income disparity and poverty status between single fathers and single mothers across three decades in the United States. While the Kramers study was very informative, all explanatory variables of demographic factors used in the analysis were statistically significant because of the large sample size. The current study attempts to replicate the Kramers study while improving on model specification by combining data from the 2011 and 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to explore the effects of demographic factors on the income and poverty status of working single fathers and single mothers. Analyses were conducted on single mother (N=984) and single father (N=154) households with positive taxable income, non-work income, and poverty status. Poverty status is the ratio of total income to poverty threshold. Bivariate results showed that taxable income and poverty status were higher for single fathers than single mothers, while non-work income was significantly higher for single mothers than single fathers (p < .05), which are consistent with the results reported by Kramer. Multivariate regression models were conducted using demographic factors as explanatory variables to predict the log-transformed income and poverty status. Unlike Kramers study, the results showed that only gender, marital status, education, and number of hours worked per year had significant effects on both income and poverty status (p < .05). The results suggest that future studies should consider the impact of large sample sizes and functional forms in the evaluation of income and poverty for single parenthood to provide credible evidence to policymakers.