Against the Tide: Household Structure, Opportunities, and Outcomes Among White and Minority Youth

Carolyn J. Hill · Harry J. Holzer · Henry Chen

Jan 2009 · W.E. Upjohn Institute

About this ebook

Gaps in educational and employment outcomes persist (and in some cases are growing) among various groups of young adults in the United States. Particularly notable are the gaps that exist between minority young adults—especially black young adults—and their white counterparts. One oft-cited reason for this trend is the growing number of youth who have grown up in single-parent households. Hill, Holzer, and Chen examine the effects of household structure on youth and young adults and how these effects might have contributed to the negative trends in outcomes observed for young minorities over time. They take into account several measures likely to affect outcomes, including human capital enrichment in the home; neighborhood environment, especially safety; and parental behavior and the home environment. They then consider the extent to which these measures are responsible for the observed effects of household structure on youth and young adult outcomes, and whether they account for significant effects among the full sample, for all blacks, for black males, and for black females. From publisher description.