ECONOMIC STRAIN AND FAMILY FORMATION

University Of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia MO

Investigators

Abstract

Material hardship is an important measure of economic well-being, especially for disadvantaged households, and has been part of attempts to understand the relationship between family structure, household well-being and poverty. In this study advanced econometric techniques to analyze longitudinal data from the Building Strong Families (BSF) 2002-2012 dataset will be used, in order to increase policymakers' understanding of the relationship between material hardship and family formation, and in particular, to understand how family strengthening programs mediate that relationship. The project has three specific aims: (1) Explore whether material hardship acts as a selection factor in family formation and relationship satisfaction. In other words, are strengthening family programs more successful for families with lower levels of material hardship? (2) Explore the effects of family formation on economic strain. In other words, do family formation and improved relationship quality reduce material hardship? (3) Explore the effects of social safety net participation on the success of family strengthening programs and families' economic strain. In other words, does participation in social safety net programs improve relationship and economic outcomes for families? This proposal will take advantage of the unique BSF data to address inconsistencies and limitations in the prior research. In particular, the study will disentangle the causal direction; it will look at whether economic well-being exerts a strong effect on selection into marriage or whether it is more accurate to say that some aspects of marriage cause, or make more likely, certain economic outcomes. Because the BSF data is longitudinal, this research will use stronger causal modeling strategies than have been applied to these questions before. Sample: BSF data which includes 5,100 couples. Measures: Marriage (married or cohabitating) Relationship Quality ? Happiness ? Support & affection ? Constructive conflict behaviors ? Destructive conflict behaviors ? Fidelity Economic Strain ? Household income is below the monthly poverty line ? Household had utilities disconnected in the last year ? Household did not pay all of their rent in the last year ? Household was evicted in the last year Social Program Participation (income from TANF or SNAP) Control Variables ? Initial relationship status and quality (e.g. the outcome measures described above, the probability of marrying current partner, and whether individuals have previous children from other partners) ? Baseline demographic characteristics (e.g. race and ethnicity, age, education level, and English language proficiency) ? Contextual characteristics (e.g. religiosity, income, employment status, psychological distress, and social support) ? Length of time (in weeks) between follow-up interviews