McErlean Kimberly, Glass Jennifer L
Department of Sociology, Population Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, 305 E. 23rd St., Mail Stop G18000, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
J Fam Econ Issues. 2024 Jun;45(2):395-409. doi: 10.1007/s10834-023-09922-y. Epub 2023 Jul 25.
The economic circumstances in which children grow up have garnered much scholarly attention due to their close associations with well-being over the life course. While it has been well-documented that children are increasingly growing up in households where their primary financial support comes from their mother, regardless of whether she is partnered or single, the consequences for household economic well-being are unclear. We use the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation to quantify how a mother's transition into primary earner status affects the economic well-being of her household and if the effects differ based on her relationship status. On average, household income declines and more households are unable to meet their economic needs once the mother becomes the primary earner. However, these declines in income are concentrated among partnered-mother households and mothers who transition from partnered to single during the year. At the same time, although many single mothers see an increase in household income, the majority of these households are still unable to meet their economic needs. These findings suggest that the shift to a welfare system that requires employment coupled with structural changes in the labor market have created financial hardship for most families.
儿童成长所处的经济环境因其与人生历程中的幸福密切相关而备受学界关注。尽管有充分记录表明，越来越多的儿童成长于主要经济支持来自母亲的家庭，无论母亲是已婚还是单身，但这对家庭经济福祉的影响尚不明晰。我们利用2014年收入与项目参与调查来量化母亲转变为主要挣钱者身份如何影响其家庭的经济福祉，以及这种影响是否因母亲的恋爱状况而异。平均而言，一旦母亲成为主要挣钱者，家庭收入会下降，更多家庭无法满足其经济需求。然而，这些收入下降集中在已婚母亲家庭以及年内从已婚转变为单身的母亲家庭。与此同时，尽管许多单身母亲家庭收入有所增加，但这些家庭中的大多数仍无法满足其经济需求。这些发现表明，向要求就业的福利体系的转变以及劳动力市场的结构变化给大多数家庭带来了经济困难。
