Working Paper: NBER ID: w1984
Authors: Victor R. Fuchs
Abstract: Data from the 1960, 1970, and 1980 Censuses of Population and the \nCurrent Population Surveys of 1980 and 1985 are used to describe and analyze \nthe economic position of children with special emphasis on cross-section \ndifferences and variation over time in the incidence of poverty. Between \n1959 and 1979 the income available to children tended to follow the same \npattern as adult income, but between 1979 and 1984 the trends for children \nwere very unfavorable. Poverty rose, average income fell, and income \ninequality increased. Contrary to popular belief, the increase in femaleheaded \nhouseholds played only a small part in the growth of poverty among \nchildren since 1979. Income available to children fell because households \nwith children are highly dependent on labor income- -which fell for all age \ngroups. The elderly (65+), who derive 75 percent of their income from \nnonlabor sources (e.g., social security, private pensions, interest), were \nthe only age group to experience gains in real per capita income during \n1979-84. The conclusions about trends in the money income available to \nchildren and adults are relatively unchanged when estimates of the value of \nnonmarket production and in-kind government social welfare programs are \nadded to money income.
Keywords: children; poverty; income inequality; household characteristics
JEL Codes: I3; J1; D3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| increase in the proportion of children living in poverty (I32) | decline in average income available to children (J13) |
| decline in average income available to children (J13) | households with children are heavily dependent on labor income (D13) |
| increase in female-headed households (J12) | growth of poverty among children (I32) |
| difference in poverty rates between black and white children (I32) | differences in household characteristics (R20) |
| race, sex, and marital status of household adults (R20) | children's poverty rates (I32) |