Children’s Economic Well-Being in Married, Cohabiting, and Single-Parent Families

Sheela Kennedy, University of Minnesota

We use the most recently available data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) to study children’s economic well-being. Using the March 2008 and 2009 Annual Socioeconomic Supplements (ASEC) and the December 2007 and 2008 food security supplements, we will produce updated estimates of children’s economic well-being. Our analysis will consider the marital and cohabiting status of parents, as well as the biological relationships between children and parents. Our focus will be on comparing cohabiting families to married and single parent families, and our poverty estimates will be adjusted to take into account the added contributions of cohabiting partners. These data will provide an important benchmark from which to study the continuing impact of the current economic recession on child well-being.