Volume 20 - Article 15 | Pages 353–376
Poverty in the Texas borderland and lower Mississippi Delta: A comparative analysis of differences by family type
| Date received: | 03 Jul 2008 |
| Date published: | 08 Apr 2009 |
| Word count: | 5499 |
| Keywords: | family structure, Mississippi Delta, persistent poverty, poverty, regional poverty, Texas |
| DOI: | 10.4054/DemRes.2009.20.15 |
Abstract
We provide a comparative analysis of county-level poverty in the two poorest regions of the United States - the Texas Borderland and the Lower Mississippi Delta - with a special focus on differences by family type. Our results reveal important regional variation in both the prevalence of poverty and the composition of the poor population across major family types. Using OLS regression models of family type-specific poverty we demonstrate three key findings: 1) There are no significant regional differences in poverty levels by family type between the Borderland and the Delta, net of important structural factors that characterize the regions; 2) with the exception of the employment rate, the structural factors associated with poverty among married couple and single female-headed families are quite different; and 3) paradoxically, areas in the Borderland with high in-migration are especially likely to suffer from high married-couple family poverty. Our results suggest the need for regionally targeted and demographically tailored anti-poverty policies.
Author's Affiliation
Tim Slack - Louisiana State University, United States of America
Joachim Singelmann - Louisiana State University, United States of America
Kayla Fontenot - Louisiana State University, United States of America
Dudley L. Poston - Texas A&M University, United States of America
Sáenz Rogelio - University of Texas at San Antonio, United States of America
Carlos Siordia - West Virginia University, United States of America
Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research
»
Patterns of Asexuality in the United States
Volume 23 - Article 18
Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research
»
The sex preference for children in Europe: Children’s sex and the probability and timing of births
Volume 48 - Article 8 | Keywords: family structure
»
The growth of education differentials in marital dissolution in the United States
Volume 45 - Article 26 | Keywords: family structure
»
Stepfather families and children's schooling in sub-Saharan Africa: A cross-national study
Volume 44 - Article 27 | Keywords: family structure
»
The long-run effects of poverty alleviation resettlement on child development: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in China
Volume 43 - Article 10 | Keywords: poverty
»
Child poverty across immigrant generations in the United States, 1993–2016: Evidence using the official and supplemental poverty measures
Volume 39 - Article 40 | Keywords: poverty
Articles
Citations
Cited References: 58
»View the references of this article
Download to Citation Manager
Similar Articles
PubMed
»Articles by Joachim Singelmann
Google Scholar
»Articles by Joachim Singelmann