Race,Family Status,and Young Women’s Residential and Financial Dependency: 1970 to 2010

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which recent increases in intergenerational coresidence and financial dependency among young Black and White women are associated with declines in marriage and increases in nonmarital parenthood. We use U.S. Census and American Community Survey data for the period 1970 to 2010 to examine how changing family patterns by race have contributed to changes in intergenerational support. We find that compositional shifts in marriage and, to a lesser extent, nonmarital childbearing contribute to rises in coresidence and financial dependency over time, as well as to the growing gap between White and Black women. Controlling for marital and parental status reduces the temporal increase in coresidence and greatly reduces the race difference. Race differences in financial dependency are reversed after controlling for marital and family status, showing that coresiding young Black women are less, not more, likely than similar White women to be financially dependent on their parents.