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  4. May 2022
  5. The Change in Poverty from 1995 to 2016 among Single-Parent Families

The Change in Poverty from 1995 to 2016 among Single-Parent Families

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Abstract

This paper is the first to examine changes in poverty over time using a comprehensive set of linked survey and administrative data, implementing the recommendations of the Interagency Technical Working Group on Evaluating Alternative Measures of Poverty. Using the Comprehensive Income Dataset (CID), we correct for measurement error in survey-reported incomes, focusing on single-parent families from 1995 to 2016. Our preferred estimates indicate that single-parent family poverty declined by 62 percent over time, while it fell by only 45 percent using survey data alone. Moreover, survey-reported deep poverty among single-parent families increased over time, while it fell using the CID.

Citation

Corinth, Kevin, Bruce D. Meyer, and Derek Wu. 2022. "The Change in Poverty from 1995 to 2016 among Single-Parent Families." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 112: 345-50. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221043

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I32 Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
  • I38 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
  • J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse