Nonmarital Fertility, Union History, and Women’s Wealth

We use more than 20 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 to examine wealth trajectories among mothers following a nonmarital first birth. We compare wealth according to union type and union stability, and we distinguish partners by biological parentage of the firstborn child. Net of controls for education, race/ethnicity, and family background, single mothers who enter into stable marriages with either a biological father or stepfather experience significant wealth advantages over time (more than $2,500 per year) relative to those who marry and divorce, cohabit, or remain unpartnered. Sensitivity analyses adjusting for unequal selection into marriage support these findings and demonstrate that race (but not ethnicity) and age at first birth structure mothers’ access to later marriage. We conclude that not all single mothers have equal access to marriage; however, marriage, union stability, and paternity have distinct roles for wealth accumulation following a nonmarital birth

Trajectories of unsecured debt and health at midlife

Background: Unsecured debt — debt not tied to an asset — is a financial stressor that undermines health, but prior research has not investigated relationships between group-based trajectories of unsecured debt and pain and disability at midlife. Methods: US respondents of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-1979 cohort reported unsecured debt and income between ages 28–40. We used these measures to identify group-based trajectories of unsecured debt and unsecured debt-to-income ratio. We then used trajectory membership to predict three pain and disability-related health outcomes at age 50, adjusting for lagged health and other covariates. Results: Group-based trajectory models divided the sample of 7850 respondents into 6 unsecured debt trajectories and 5 unsecured debt-to-income trajectories. In fully adjusted unsecured debt models, compared to people with constant low debt, those who paid down debt over time, carried constant debt, experienced debt cycling, or accumulated debt later in life were more likely to report pain interference with activities or joint pain or stiffness at age 50 (pain interference ORs ranging from 1.33 to 1.76; joint pain or stiffness ORs ranging from 1.27 to 1.45). In fully adjusted unsecured debt-to-income models, compared to those with constant low debt, those with constant high debt or accumulating debt later in life were more likely to report pain interference or joint pain or stiffness (pain interference ORs ranging from 1.30 to 1.91; joint pain or stiffness ORs ranging from 1.19 to 1.33). Conclusion: The amount, timing, and duration of unsecured debt accumulation and repayment have important health implications and may exacerbate midlife health inequalities

Single mother families and employment, race, and poverty in changing economic times

Using American Community Survey data from 2001, 2005, and 2010, this paper assesses the relationships between employment, race, and poverty for households headed by single women across different economic periods. While poverty rates rose dramatically among single-mother families between 2001 and 2010, surprisingly many racial disparities in poverty narrowed by the end of the decade. This was due to a greater increase in poverty among whites, although gaps between whites and Blacks, whites and Hispanics, and whites and American Indians remained quite large in 2010. All employment statuses were at higher risk of poverty in 2010 than 2001 and the risk increased most sharply for those employed part-time, the unemployed, and those not in the labor force. Given the concurrent increase in part-time employment and unemployment between 2000 and 2010, findings paint a bleak picture of the toll the last decade has had on the well being of single-mother families

The Myth of Men’s Stable, Continuous Labor Force Attachment: Multitrajectories of U.S. Baby Boomer Men’s Employment

Over the past several decades, U.S. men’s paid work has transformed from a state of high stability and continuity to a state of increased instability and precarity. Despite this, full-time employment throughout adulthood remains the presumed standard for modern American men. The authors investigated the diversity of men’s workforce experiences using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth “National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - 1979 cohort” and identified six multitrajectories of men’s time spent employed, unemployed, and out of the labor force from ages 27 to 49. The authors identified one multitrajectory of steady work, three of increasing unemployment or time out of work, one of increasing steady work, and one of intermittent work. Contrary to conventional assumptions, only 41 percent of men followed a trajectory of continuous, high employment over the duration of their prime earning years. This suggests that most men do not achieve the “ideal worker norm,” raising implications for how research and policy conceptualize men’s work experiences