Economic Poverty: Does the Break-Up of Families Matter?

Maria Alessandra Antonelli and Valeria De Bonis
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Maria Alessandra Antonelli: Department of Legal and Economic Studies, Faculty of Law, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: In this paper we investigate the relationship between family structure and poverty for European countries using Eurostat and OECD data. In particular, we focus on the change in living arrangements, with the traditional type of household—couple with children—being partially replaced by single and extended families. The results of our econometric analysis show that the decline in the traditional family type affects individual poverty: the marriage rate and the share of couples, both with and without children, are inversely related to poverty; the divorce rate, the shares of extended families and singles with children are, instead, positively related to poverty.

Keywords: poverty; family composition; social changes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:6:p:224-:d:572804

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