A demographic analysis of the family structure experiences of children in the United States |
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| Authors: | David M Blau Wilbert van der Klaauw |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Economics and Initiative in Population Research, The Ohio State University, Arps Hall, 1945 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43210-1172, USA;(2) Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York, USA |
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| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the family structure experiences of children in the U.S. Childbearing and transitions among single, cohabiting,
and married states are analyzed jointly. A novel contribution is to distinguish men by their relationship to children: biological
father or stepfather. The analysis uses data from the NLSY79. A key finding is that children of black mothers spend on average
only 33% of their childhood living with the biological father and mother, compared to 74% for children of white mothers. The
two most important proximate demographic determinants of the large racial gap are the much higher propensity of black women
to conceive children outside of a union, and the lower rate of “shotgun” unions for blacks compared to whites. Another notable
finding is that cohabitation plays a negligible role in the family structure experiences of children of white mothers, and
even for children of black mothers accounts for less than one fifth of time spent living with both biological parents.
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| Keywords: | Family structure Children Marriage Cohabitation |
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