A Study of County Child Poverty Rates in Puerto Rico: Does Space Matter?

Abstract

Previous literature on childhood poverty in Puerto Rico is sparse. This is surprising since Puerto Rico exhibits very high poverty rates as compared to the rest of the United States. In this paper, we apply a structural perspective and consider how economic characteristics, household structure and migration patterns influence child poverty rates in Puerto Rico. Data for this paper come from the 2006–2010 Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS) summary files. We apply methods of exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial regression models to understand how municipio (county equivalents) level child poverty rates are influenced by these factors. A spatial modeling methodology was deemed appropriate since significant spatial structure is found for the child poverty rate and residuals from the Ordinary Least Squares model. Household composition, as measured by the percent of female headed households and the percent of grandparents caring for their own grandchildren consistently showed positive associations with child poverty. In terms of the economic sector variables, the proportion of the workforce in agriculture and proportion without a high school education showed significant positive effects on child poverty. With respect to migration, we find little to no impact, but we do find that child poverty is concentrated outside of the region adjacent to the capital of San Juan.