Diverging paths: heterogeneities in single parenthood and consequences for child poverty

The authors propose an expanded conceptualization of single parenthood that acknowledges within-group heterogeneity and investigate differential short- and long-term poverty outcomes on the basis of pathways into single parenthood. Using representative panel data for the United States, the authors present descriptive trends in the evolution of four pathways into single parenthood (divorce, separation, widowhood, and never getting married) and the diversity of demographic characteristics across these pathways. The authors then identify the associations between pathways into single parenthood and child poverty. In 2019, most single parents were single because they had never been married, compared with the 1970s, when the most common pathway into single parenthood was divorce. Moreover, the authors find large heterogeneities by age, race/ethnicity, and education across the pathways. Never getting married and separation are associated with the most negative consequences for child poverty. In contrast, no statistical differences emerge in children’s later life poverty for those raised by divorced or widowed single parents compared with children raised in two-parent families. The findings demonstrate that studies treating single parenthood as a homogenous demographic overlook meaningful within-group differences. The negative effects of single parenthood are not uniformly distributed among children of single parents. However, a nontrivial part of the heterogeneities between pathways is a result of compositional differences, and the authors do not argue that some single parenthood types are “better or worse” for child poverty outcomes.