Are Children Protected Equally from Marriage?: The Complexity of Family Context and Race/Ethnicity on Child Food Insecurity

Traditional family arrangements have become less normative in contemporary society as more children are reared in cohabiting and single-parent families. Extant research has established the negative effects of non-traditional family arrangements on child well-being, but the literature is void of a comprehensive examination of the how family context on indicators of child well-being varies across race. In this study, I will use data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey to investigate the mediating and moderating influences of race on the relationship between family context and child food insecurity. Preliminary results reveal that approximately 21% of children experience food insecurity, and food insecurity is more prevalent among single parent households and Hispanic children. However, multivariate analyses reveal a more intricate relationship between family context and race. Black children with married parents are the least likely to report food insecurity. White children in single parent and cohabiting families are the most likely to report food insecurity. Among Hispanic children, those living in cohabiting families are the least likely to experience food insecurity, while Hispanic children living in married and single parent families have a similar probability of experiencing food insecurity.