Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

A large literature has documented high levels of complexity and fluidity (instability) among contemporary families, particularly those that are socially and economically disadvantaged. Family complexity and fluidity have, in turn, been linked to adverse outcomes for both children and adults. However, because most existing surveys conduct interviews annually or less frequently, little is known about the extent to which family composition varies, or is fluid, over short periods of time and, in particular, its relation to the amounts, types, and stability of economic resources to which families have access. Changes in family resources, including earned income and public and private transfers, may precede or follow changes in family composition with variable timing. Although a range of social welfare programs are intended to protect against negative income shocks, existing policies and programs were largely designed in an era when family complexity was less common, and were typically intended to serve (often non-coresident) parents and their joint children, rather than the myriad of family forms exhibited by modern families. As such, the extent to which these policies adequately respond to contemporary families’ realities is unclear.

This paper uses a sample of more than 12,000 children drawn from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). We begin by documenting the extent of short-term family fluidity (changes in family composition every four months) experienced by U.S. children over a three-year period. We conduct this analysis for all children and separately by demographic subgroup. We then document changes in amounts and types of family economic resources (earnings and public benefits) that precede, are concurrent with, or follow changes in family composition and with what lag or lead period. Finally, we assess whether social welfare programs, including SNAP, TANF, CTC, EITC, and child support, are responsive to and protect families from adverse consequences of these changes. Our analyses extend prior literature in four ways. First, we are able to assess family fluidity at close intervals. Second, we examine a broader range of family changes than is available in much of the prior research, specifically identifying household entries and exits by biological, social parents and siblings as well as other relative and non-relative persons. Third, we examine the timing of such changes and their proximity to changes in resources in order to gain insight into the extent to which family changes lead to changes in resources or are the result of changes in resources. Here, we assess whether, how, and in what time period there are interplays between changes family composition, family resources, and social welfare benefits. Results have considerable potential to increase our understanding of the relation between family fluidity and family resources, as well as the alignment between the realities of contemporary families and the public policies and programs that were designed to support them.