California Center for Population Research

A substantial body of research demonstrates links between poverty and family structure from one generation to the next, but leaves open key questions about the implications of these associations for aggregate-level change. To what extent does intergenerational inheritance affect trends in poverty and single parenthood over time? This paper examines how patterns of intergenerational inheritance play out in the population over the long run, using data from the National Longitudinal Surveys and a model of population renewal that takes into account intergenerational mobility and differential fertility across groups defined by poverty status and family structure. We find that recent patterns of intergenerational inheritance are contributing to growth in poverty and single parenthood, but their contribution is modest, falling well short of recent historical change and having little effect on the relative economic positions of single-parent and two-parent families.