Family Complexity: Changes in the Demographics of Poverty

Economic Vulnerability: What Role Does Demographics Play? The poverty rate in 2011 was 15.0 percent; with over 46 million counted among the poor. The rate was 15.7 percent using a more sophisticated measure. Most poverty spells are short, but almost a third of all American families will fall into poverty for a few months over a three year period. Only about 2% of those families that fall into poverty are poor for 48 months or more. If you add up those Americans living in deep poverty, poverty, and near-poverty, the total is about 100 million people. This means that a lot of Americans are economically fragile—any shock to their income and they are in trouble.

Changing Demographics While the economy is a reason for American income problems, a major contributing factor is demographic changes which are changing the mix of American families producing individuals and families that are vulnerable to poverty: single-parent families, single-person households, minorities (particularly Hispanic), and among our population are more senior citizens, including more of the very old (80+).

Compassion Exhaustion? Since the 1960s, family structure in American has changed in fundamental ways, and these changes are playing a large role in driving poverty rates and other economic challenges for families. There is evidence that law makers and the public are increasingly frustrated with people who make decisions that greatly increase the chances that they and their children will be poor.

Some of the Big Changes Americans marry later than at any time in our history Divorce ends almost half of all marriages Cohabitation, non-marital childbearing, and repartnering have become common We have a large increase in multi-partner fertility—adults having children with more than one partner. When unmarried partners have a child the relationship is usually unstable. Only 17% of partners who have a child out-of wedlock marry within five years of the birth of the child. Males, especially young ones, who struggle to make a living are much more likely to live away from their children

Why Do Women have Children out-of-wedlock? Wilson has researched this question (see our text: More Than Just Race) Women reported that they had a child out-of- wedlock because they could not find a suitable partner. They said that most of the men they know are poorly educated, unemployed or frequently unemployed, often involved with drugs, alcohol, the party scene and sometimes crime. Women judged these men to be generally uninterested or unprepared to be a supportive partner or father. The women said that life was tough for them, but that it would be harder without a child.

One positive sign is that Teen Births have Been Declining

Still Teen Births are Very High by International Standards

Teen Pregnancy by Country

Teen Pregnancy By Country

Impact on Poverty