Inequities between black and white children grow
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The economic and social gap between black and white children has grown wider over the past two decades than poverty rates alone indicate, according to an Andrew Young School of Policy Studies researcher.

Although black children are four times more likely than white children to be poor, they are about five times more likely to also experience other kinds of economic and social disadvantages, such as living in a family on welfare or a family headed by a mother with no job, says Mike Foster, associate professor of public administration and urban studies.

"These racial gaps are troubling because each disadvantage has been linked to poor developmental outcomes, such as low I.Q. scores or…emotional and behavioral problems," write Foster and fellow researcher Frank Furstenberg Jr. of the University of Pennsylvania.

In their recent article on disadvantaged kids, Foster and Furstenberg culled data from nationwide studies of children and adolescents from 1968 through 1992.

Over the last five years of the survey, 19 percent of black children were "most disadvantaged" - living in families that were poor, receiving welfare and headed by women who were not working. For white children, the figure was 1 percent, the data showed.

Over the two and a half decades covered by the study, the economic position of white children remained "fairly stable," while the status of African-American children fell - particularly in the late 1980s and early 1990s among pre-school and elementary-age kids.

The declining economic prospects of poorly educated workers, and an increase in the number of children living in female-headed households, could be driving the deteriorating economic status of black kids, Foster and Furstenberg suggest. Nearly 60 percent of black children who are most disadvantaged live in families headed by a high-school dropout.

But the news isn't all bad, said Foster, an economist who also has examined the impact of welfare reform and managed care on women and children. His research on the demography of disadvantage and the evaluation of policies and programs for children with emotional and behavioral disorders has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Ford Foundation, the Office of the Surgeon General/U.S. Army and the Department of Health and Human Services, among others.

"It's just a time of great change for children," says Foster. "The childhood poverty rate fell from 22.7 percent in 1994 to 19.9 percent in 1997. I'd say that's a good sign. Less-educated household heads are doing better (and) poorly educated black men are experiencing an increase in earnings. There have been times when it appears that a robust economy doesn't trickle down to the poorest families. It appears that that's happening again."

Federal children's health insurance, welfare and education reform, and the shift to managed health care may help combat some of the problems. But whether government policy can turn the tide of children's economic inequity remains to be seen.

"I'm mostly just anxious (about kids' well-being)," Foster said. "To me it seems like we're trying so many things at the same time that affect children, it leaves me wondering what the net effect will be."

RELATED RESEARCH: "Most Disadvantaged Children: Trends over Time," forthcoming in Social Service Review; "Non-Marital Childbearing in the Post-Teenage Years: The Economic Status of Women and Their Children," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60(1): 163-175; and "Most Disadvantaged Children: Who Are They and Where Do They Live?," Journal of Poverty, 2(2): 23-47.

Photo above: FOSTER ON FAMILIES: "I think my kids have actually improved my research, because I feel like I have a research lab at my house," says Mike Foster, associate professor of public administration and urban studies. Foster, shown at home with (left to right) Gabriel, 3, Evy, 5, and Hannah, 7, studies the economic and social well-being of children and adolescents.