Single-Mother Families and Air Pollution: A National Study

OBJECTIVE: This study uses tract-level demographic data and toxicity-weighted air pollutant concentration estimates for the continental United States to determine whether (1) single-mother families are overrepresented in environmentally hazardous Census tracts and (2) the percentage of single-mother families in a Census tract is a significant predictor of tract-level toxic concentration estimates. METHODS: After calculating tract-level toxic concentration estimates for the average female-headed family, male-headed family, and married-couple family with and without children, we use fixed-effects regression models to determine whether the percentage of single-mother families in a tract is a significant predictor of tract-level toxic concentration estimates. RESULTS: Single-mother families are overrepresented in environmentally hazardous Census tracts, and the percentage of single-mother families in a tract remains a significant predictor of estimated toxic concentration levels even after controlling for many of the most commonly used variables in the literature. CONCLUSION: Environmental inequality researchers need to broaden their focus beyond race and income to include groups such as single-mother families in their research.