Feature Story

November 15, 2007

Living Arrangements of Low-Income Children May Not Play a Key Role in their Well-Being

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

The living arrangements of low-income children do not significantly predict their well-being, regardless of their race or ethnicity.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of Chicago, is published in the November/December 2007 issue of the journal Child Development.

Using data on approximately 2,000 low-income families, the researchers sought to compare the development of children living only with their mothers with children in other arrangements (those living with their biological fathers, in blended families, and in multigenerational households) to determine the effect of living arrangements on the children's cognitive achievement and emotional adjustment.

This allowed them to consider whether and how children's emotional and intellectual development changes after there has been a change in family structure.

Given the study's inability to find evidence that living arrangements have a significant effect on the well-being of low-income children, regardless of the children's race or ethnicity, the researchers question whether policies and programs that seek to change low-income children's living arrangements can improve these children's lives.

"The findings do not invalidate the use of living arrangements as a means of identifying at-risk children and youth," noted E. Michael Foster, professor of maternal and child health and of health policy and administration at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the study's lead author.

This distinction implies that policies like income support that seek to improve the lives of children regardless of whether their mothers are married may be more effective in improving the well-being of low-income children and youths.

The research was funded, in part, by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.

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