[Living arrangements and economic well-being of American children]

"The objective of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which racial variation in children's economic well-being resides in divergent parental work patterns and/or family living arrangements. This is accomplished using recently-released data from the 1 percent sample of the Public Use Microdata Sample of the 1990 [U.S.] decennial census. The results indicate that racial differences in family structure undermine efforts to eliminate racial inequality among American children. Among blacks, for example, the high proportions of children living in female-headed families account for 60 percent of the difference from white children in poverty rates. Similarly, racial differences in parental work patterns contribute to (but cannot explain completely) racial variation in child poverty. Among black children in married-couple families, poverty rates are roughly twice those of their white counterparts, even though black children are more likely to have both parents working." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)