Multidimensional Economic Instability Among Single-Mother Families with Children

Background and Purpose

Economic instability is a key barrier for low-income single mothers to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Research has shown that economic instability has negative impacts on children’s lives (Adams et al., 2016; Elliott, 2013). However, previous research on economic instability mostly focused on a single domain of economic instability or on the bivariate relationship between two types of instability in a short timeframe. To address the gap, this study aims to (1) analyze multidimensional economic instability among low-income single-mother families over a five-year period; (2) identify distinct trajectories of multidimensional economic instability; and (3) compare the sociodemographic characteristics across trajectory groups.

Methods

We used the 2008 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). Our sample included 870 low-income (< 200% of federal poverty line) single mothers (18-65 years old) who had at least one related child under the age of 18 in the household and had the complete sixty monthly data points. We first analyzed the following six measures over a five-year period: (1) the yearly averages of (i) weekly work hours, (ii) monthly earnings, and (iii) monthly household means-tested benefits; and (2) the within-year instability (in terms of coefficients of variation) of (i) weekly work hours, (ii) monthly earnings, and (iii) monthly household means-tested benefits. We then conducted the group-based multi-trajectory modeling (GBMTM) to identify the distinct patterns (i.e. multi-trajectory groups) based on the six trends of the above-mentioned measures among low-income single mothers. Finally, we performed the multinomial logistic regression modeling to compare the sociodemographic characteristics across different trajectory groups. 

Results

On average, low-income single mothers experienced decreases in within-year instability of weekly working hours and monthly earnings from 2008 to 2013. However, the patterns of working hours, earnings, and benefits varied significantly over time. Findings from GBMTM indicated three distinct groups of multidimensional economic instability: (1) limited employment and instability group (25.6%), (2) part-time employment, high instability group (50.8%), and (3) full-time employment, low instability group (23.6%). Results from the multinomial logistic regression showed that a high school degree, home ownership, a status of work disability, a lower number of children, a non-African American status, and an ever-married status significantly predicted the group membership. For example, the odds of being in the part-time employment, high instability group relative to the full-time, low instability group are about 2.2 times for African American single mothers than non-African American single mothers, holding other variables constant.

Conclusions and Implications

This research reveals patterns of multidimensional economic instability among low-income single mothers during and after the Great Recession. We found that approximately half of this population worked part-time and experienced the highest level of instability in terms of working hours, earnings, and benefits. African Americans were overrepresented in this group (approximately 60% of African American single-mother families were in the part-time employment, high instability group). Our results highlight the importance of promoting the economic stability as a policy goal of income and work support programs, which also has implications for improving the racial disparity in multidimensional economic instability.