For Today:
 Return Reaction Papers
 Return Project Papers
 Discuss Stage II Project Assignment
 Discuss Exam Review Sheet
 Quiz #9
 Income Inequality – Does it Matter?
 Family Structure and Poverty (Chapter 6 Schiller)
 The Underclass: Culture and Race (Chapter 7 of
Schiller)
For Wednesday, 10/10:
 Read Chapter 8 of Schiller
 Read Read Chapter 3, “Why Don’t Welfare-Reliant
Mothers Go to Work?”
 No reading quiz
For Monday, 10/15:
 Read Chapter 9 of Schiller
 Exam Review Discussion
Wednesday, 10/17: Exam
What do we mean by the term "family
structure?"
1) Number of children
2) Number of parents in household/marital status
 Two parents
 Married
 Unmarried
 Single Parent
 Never married
 Married - separated - absent spouse
 Divorced
 Widowed
How has family size changed over the past
three decades in the U.S.?
 Average number of children in a family has
declined.
 (Overall - downward trend in childbearing)
 In 1960 1/3 of children grew up with 3 or more
siblings (only 15% in 1990)
How does family size affect poverty?
"Children are a distinct threat to the financial
security of a family." - Schiller
We know increase in number of children increases
likelihood of poverty
-more mouths to feed
-more constraints for working at a job (child care,
etc.)
(figure 6.1 in text shows that for both single and
two-parent families, poverty rate rises as number of
children rises.)
If causality goes both ways, are there reasons
why poor families might have more children?
 access to and use of birth control
 abortion rates
 unwanted birth rates
 17% of nonpoor families report unwanted
births
 26% of near poor families report unwanted
births
 42% of poor families report unwanted births
 Perverse incentives from the welfare system
(big brother)
How has family structure, other than size,
changed?
"Single parenthood has transformed the
demographic profile of American and feminized
poverty." Schiller
 Increase in % of families with one-parent
Table 6.1 from text
Living Arrangements of Children
Percent Distribution
Family Structure
1960
1998
Two-parent
87.5%
68.1%
family
One-parent
family
8.0%
23.3%
 Mother only
1.1%
4.4%
 Father only
Other Custodian
3.2%
4.2%
Why more single-parent families?
1) Divorce rate has doubled since 1960
 % of children in divorced homes is up
2) % of births to unmarried women has increased
(See next page - chart.)
% of children living in different family structures has
changed
See table 6.2 in text for changes over time.
Socially and economically, is there a
distinction between being unmarried and
divorced? (as a parent)
Why has their been an increase in births to
unmarried women?
Why has Family Structure Changed?
 Flawed Character Arguments
 Big Brother
-Welfare’s role ("cycle of poverty")
-Perverse incentives for couples not to stay together
 Restricted Opportunity
-Diminished economic opportunity for men leading
to decline in marriageable men
-Adverse economic conditions and financial stress
leading to split ups
-Increased economic insecurity
-Lack of access to birth control
What impact has changing family structure
had on poverty?
Are structural changes in families a cause or
effect of poverty?
 Having one parent in house instead of 2 reduces
income by more than ½
 Poverty Rate for married couple families (5.8%);
single parent (30.4%)
 37.1% of families with children in poverty in 2
parent; 58.4% in 1 parent
 80.6% of families above poverty in 2 parent;
17.2% in 1 parent
Poverty Rates by Family Structure and Race
Family Type
White
Black
Hispanic
Two Parents
4.3
8.6
19.3
Mother Only
32.9
47.5
52.2
Father Only
14.7
24.6
28.6
 Danziger & Gottschalk estimate 1/5 lower poverty
if family structure hadn’t changed since ’68; 1/3
lower for African-Americans

Intergenerational Consequences of Poverty