Volume 44 - Article 28 | Pages 653–698
US disparities in affluence by household structure, 1959 to 2017
Date received: | 15 Jun 2020 |
Date published: | 01 Apr 2021 |
Word count: | 2542 |
Keywords: | affluence, household living arrangements, household structure, inequality |
DOI: | 10.4054/DemRes.2021.44.28 |
Abstract
Background: This study examines trends in affluence ‒ as indicated by high household income ‒ by household structure over the 1959 to 2017 period. I contrast the experiences of married-couple households, whose share of all households declined substantially over time, with those of single-parent households, cohabiting couples, individuals living alone, and people living with nonrelatives.
Methods: I use data from multiple censuses and the American Community Survey and logistic regression.
Results: Levels of absolute affluence rose substantially for all household types, reflecting rising living standards. Married-couple households were the most likely to be affluent and single-parent households were the least. Moreover, the affluence gap between married-couple households and all others widened. Married couples fared better because they experienced larger increases in wages and other important sources of income, such as from investments and retirement.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that married-couple households benefit from a collective work strategy and economies of scale that increase their likelihood of affluence. Positive selectivity into marriage may also have increased over time.
Contribution: This study provides timely new information on changing gaps in affluence by household structure during a period of substantial change in household living arrangements and economic well-being.
Author's Affiliation
John Iceland - Pennsylvania State University, United States of America
Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research
»
The residential segregation of detailed Hispanic and Asian groups in the United States: 1980-2010
Volume 31 - Article 20
Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research
»
Socioeconomic development and young adults’ propensity of living in one-person households: Compositional and contextual effects
Volume 44 - Article 11 | Keywords: household structure
»
Diverging gaps in childcare time by parental education in South Korea
Volume 44 - Article 6 | Keywords: inequality
»
Reconsidering (in)equality in the use of IUDs in the United States: A closer look across the reproductive life course
Volume 43 - Article 35 | Keywords: inequality
»
The labor force participation of Indian women before and after widowhood
Volume 43 - Article 24 | Keywords: household structure
»
Distributionally adjusted life expectancy as a life table function
Volume 43 - Article 14 | Keywords: inequality
Articles
Citations
Cited References: 62
»View the references of this article
Download to Citation Manager
Similar Articles
PubMed
Google Scholar