The Living Arrangements of Unmarried Mothers following the Birth of a Child

Jean T. Knab, Princeton University

The living arrangements of children have been changing for the past several decades. Recent increases in divorce and births to unmarried mothers means that children spend more time living outside two, married biological-parent households in “non-traditional” living arrangements. Given the short-term nature of some of these living arrangements, children may experience a great deal of instability in living arrangements. And instability has been shown to have negative effects on children’s development and behavior. This paper examines the living arrangements of children born to unmarried mothers for the first three years of their lives. I will ask 1) What are the household living arrangements over time? 2) How much stability in household composition do these children experience and are there common patterns of change? 3) Do different racial groups have different starting points or patterns of change?