POVERTY CENTER SEMINAR: The Countervailing Effects of Socioeconomic Stress: Why Family Structure Might Matter Less for Black Youth’s Academic Success

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | ONLINE ONLY (VIA ZOOM) | REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Hosted by

Center on Poverty and Social Policy

Featuring

CHRISTINA CROSS
Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology
Harvard University

About the Event

Over the last six decades, the U.S. has experienced a major decline in the share of children living in two-parent families, a widening racial gap in the proportion of youth who live apart from a parent, and a persistent negative effect of parental absence on child outcomes—trends that have sparked a national debate about whether racial differences in family structure exacerbate existing inequalities in children’s life chances. There is an important finding, however, that researchers have yet to explore, which is that living apart from a biological parent is less negatively consequential for children of color than their white peers. At this CPSP seminar, Christina Cross (bio) will report on her work investigating how and why family structure matters differently for the academic success of racially and economically disadvantaged groups. She empirically tests hypotheses that have been put forward to account for racial differences in family structure effects and identifies factors that explain the variation in outcomes. More details here.

Questions?

Please email CPSP@columbia.edu with any questions.

For questions on how to access the event, please contact swcommunications@columbia.edu.