In this paper we offer new evidence on earnings and income volatility in the United States over the past four decades by using matched data from the March Current Population Survey. We find that between 1973 and 2008 family income volatility rose by 38 percent, primarily as a result of higher volatility of husbands earnings and non means-tested…

Following the ongoing increase in nonmarital fertility, policy makers have looked for ways to limit the disadvantages faced by children of unmarried mothers. Recent initiatives included marriage promotion and welfare-to-work programs. Yet policy might also consider the promotion of three generational households. We know little about whether…

Objective: Assess how per capita expenditure on commercially prepared food as a proportion of total food expenditure varies by the sex and marital status of the head of the household. Design: Prospective cohort study, data collected by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics 2004 Consumer Expenditure Survey. Setting: United States.…

The literature on the black middle class has focused predominantly on married-couple families with children, reflecting a conception of the black middle class as principally composed of this family type. If that conception is correct, then declining rates of marriage and childrearing would imply a decline in the presence and vitality of the black…

The Special Labor Force Report shows a substantial rise in the labor force participation rates of married women and single and divorced persons. Also explored is the downward trend of married men (55 years old or over) as members of the labor force. This decline was due mainly to early retirements and to some extent to a rising incidence of…

Interviewed 136 female heads of households in rural Sri Lanka. Found that marital status figured more importantly than age in use of health services. Concludes that, as unmarried heads of households increase in less developed places, their demands for health care at the village level likely will escalate. (Author/NB)

This publication reviews the status of women in the labor market of Los Angeles County. Some of the topics dealt with include the changes in status that have already occurred, some of the barriers still existing, and projections of women's status in the future. Specific areas explored in this document include women's participation in the work…

Decisions by individual women to seek employment outside the home are usually based on economic reasons. Most women in the labor force work because their families need the money they can earn--some work to raise family living standards above the low-income or poverty level; others, to help meet rising costs of food and education for their…

An analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study (NLS) was conducted to determine whether marital disruption (by death, divorce, or separation) caused poverty in the early years after a marriage ends and whether the poverty was long-term or short-term. The study examined data on women who had experienced a disruption before 1967 and were…

This data book uses survey and census information to record social and economic changes of the past three decades and their effects upon the role of Alaska women in society. Results show Alaska women comprise 47% of the state population, an increase of 9% since 1950. Marriage continues as the predominant living arrangement for Alaska women,…

The primary purpose of the research presented in this paper is to develop a more complete model of educational attainment. Age at first birth is examined by multiple regression, along with other independent variables that have been found to affect educational attainment, including age at marriage. The second purpose of this paper is to address the…

Household socioeconomic characteristics in nonmetropolitan areas of the New England states and New Jersey were examined to determine if differences existed among communities according to their growth status--growing, stable, declining. Data for the regional analysis came from 2,141 interviews; chi-square was used to test for significant…

This study examines characteristics of Hispanic females in single- and dual-headed households in an effort to understand the impact of the feminization of poverty on Hispanic Americans of Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican origin. The following aspects of these women are examined: (1) sociodemographic characteristics; (2) language of interview; (3)…

This document presents a study that views working mothers as primary or co-equal earners, who need wages sufficient to support their families. The study hypothesized that the complex socioeconomic trends of the last two decades have had more of an impact on working mothers' wages than have their specific family relations. The study employed a…

This report examines the relationship between marital status change and enrollment in income maintenance programs for female heads of households. The report reviews the first 18 months of the Seattle and Denver Income Maintenance Experiments, which provide financial grants to low- and non-income families. Over 5,000 people enrolled in the program…