Racial/Ethnic Differences in Single Motherhood Pre/Post Transfer Poverty (1994-2020) and the Politics of Place

• In Event: Poverty

Abstract

Over the past few decades, there have been significant changes in public transfers that have created more challenges for single mother families. We use Luxembourg Income Study data (1994-2020) to examine how place—state-level politics and region—corresponds to single mother poverty before and after public transfers are received, and whether there is racial/ethnic variation. Results suggest that politics is related to market-based, pre-transfer poverty, and has an even stronger relationship with post-transfer poverty, in a racialized way. However, the association between politics and single mother poverty differs between the South and non-South, with politics having a weaker relationship in the South of ameliorating racial differences. The relationship also differs some by transfer type, but the South/non-South difference is consistent.

Authors

• Amie Bostic, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

• Regina S. Baker, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill