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Gap Between Richest and Poorest Children Widening
WASHINGTON -- A variety of demographic trends have combined to create dramatic disparities in the time and money the most- and least-educated parents invest in their children, according to a study published recently in the journal Demography.Mothers' delayed childbearing and employment as well as fathers' time spent with their children -- key indicators of parents' investment in children -- are growing most rapidly among parents with the highest levels of education and income. At the same time, single motherhood, divorce, and father absence -- trends associated with decreased investment in children -- are rising the fastest among the most disadvantaged parents, according to study author Sara McLanahan, a Princeton University sociologist."Mothers with the most economic independence -- the highest education and income levels -- are leading the way, not in single motherhood, but in establishing stable marriages that are based on a more equal sharing of parental responsibilities," she says.Income trends illustrate the growing gap, she reports. Between 1960 and 2000, median household income of the least-educated quarter of U.S. mothers stagnated at about $20,000 (in real dollars), while the household income of the most-educated quarter of mothers nearly doubled to reach almost $80,000.Disparities in children's access to parents' time are reflected in the distribution of single-parent families. Fewer than 10% of the most-educated quarter of U.S. mothers were single in 2000, compared to more than 40% of the least- educated quarter of mothers, she reports."The government has an important role to play in ensuring that children have adequate resources in the wake of changing family patterns," McLanahan argues. "We designed old age pension for the elderly to address increases in longevity 100 years ago, and children deserve no less." Narrowing the gap between the richest and poorest children will involve encouraging women from disadvantaged backgrounds to delay childbearing, invest in education and training, and form stable partnerships, as well as encouraging men from disadvantaged backgrounds to remain committed to their children.Her analysis is based on a wide variety of data sources, including the five-year ongoing Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which interviewed about 3,700 unmarried parents at hospitals in 20 U.S. cities shortly after their child's birth. The Bush administration has plans to spend more than $1 billion over five years on programs to promote marriage among low-income couples, including improving interpersonal communication skills among unmarried parents. The Fragile Families Study found that disputes over sexual infidelity and mistrust were significant obstacles to marriage for many low-income couples. The study also found that supportiveness -- encouragement, willingness to compromise, affection -- helped relationships more than conflict hurt them. "If marriage-promotion programs can address trust and supportiveness, they may increase the stability of relationships among low-income parents," she says. "But we also need policies that increase the returns to work and make it possible for low- skilled men and women to achieve the living standard they associate with marriage." Unmarried couples were more likely to be unemployed or have incomes below the poverty line, and that they were unwilling to consider marriage until their incomes increased, the study found. She pointed to the Earned Income Tax Credit and subsidized child care and preschools as examples of policies that help working poor parents.Demography is the peer-reviewed journal published by the Population Association of America.Visit the Center for Ppublic Information on Population Research: www.prb.org/cpiprThis report is new this week in The Business Journal's small business how-to section. To see what else is new, click here or click on the "how-to" tab at the top of The Daily Business Journal Online home page."