Family structure and child well-being the role of parental social connections

Abstract

Our previous work found that single-parenthood was associated with reduced well-being for white, but not black, children (Dunifon and Kowaleski-Jones 2002). The current paper examines whether parental social connections account for differences in the effects of family structure on child well-being. Using data from the 1979 to 2000 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, our results show a key role for living with a grandparent in accounting for race differences in the influence of single-parenthood on children. In contrast, visiting friends and relatives did not explain differences in the relationship between single-parenthood and child delinquency among African American and families receiving public assistance sub-groups. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.