Trends in the Health of Black and White Children Who Live With Parents or Grandparents, U.S. 1972-2008

Patrick M. Krueger, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center
Luisa Franzini, University of Texas at Houston

Over the past 40 years, children have become less likely to live in nuclear and more likely to live with single parents or with grandparents. Further, there are marked racial differences in family structure and the relationship between family structure and health. We use the National Health Interview Survey to examine the relationship between family structure and health for black and white children from 1972 to 2008. We find some similarities by race: black and white children who live with married parents are quite healthy, as are, surprisingly, black and white children who live with single fathers. Further, black and white children who live with grandparents but not parents are among the least healthy. But we also find important differences. Black children who live with married parents and at least one grandparent are relatively healthy, whereas that family structure is associated with poorer health among white children.