2005 Reports

Many Children with Married Parents Are Low Income

Koball, Heather; Douglas-Hall, Ayana

Recent public policy initiatives have encouraged low-income parents to marry as a means of attaining economic security. But, the data tell a more complex story. Marriage does not guarantee economic security. Not only do the majority of children in single-parent families have parents who were previously married, but over a quarter of children with married parents are low income.