AUTHOR: ELAINE SORENSEN
In Part Two of our blog about Native Americans living in tribal areas with a child support program, we’ll examine family types based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey. We find that the majority of Native American children who lived in tribal areas with a child support program in 2015 were living in single-parent families, and more than half of these children lived in poverty. Read Part One for the definition of Native Americans and tribal areas with a child support program.
Over half of Native American children in tribal areas with a child support program lived in single-parent families
Almost 41% of Native American children in tribal areas with a child support program lived in female-headed single-parent families. Another 12% lived in male-headed single-parent families. Combining these two-family types, we find that 53% of Native American children in tribal areas with a child support program lived in single-parent families. In contrast, only a third of all American children lived in single-parent families: 26% in female-headed and 7% in male-headed single-parent families.
Figure 1. Family Types for Native American Children in Tribal Areas with a Child Support Program and for All Children in the United States
Data Source: 2015 American Community Survey, 5-year estimates
Over half of Native American children living in single-parent families in tribal child support program areas lived in poverty
Among Native American children who lived in single-parent families in tribal areas with a child support program, over half of them (54%) lived in poverty in 2015. The poverty rate was slightly lower for Native American children living in male-headed single-parent families (50%) than in female-headed single-parent families (56%).
In contrast, the poverty rate was 43% for all children in the United States who lived in single-parent families in 2015. The poverty rate for all children living in male-headed single-parent families was 26% compared to 47% in female-headed single-parent families.
The poverty rate for children who lived in married-couple families was much lower than for children living in single-parent families. Only 11% of all children in the United States who lived in married-couple families were poor in 2015. Among Native American children in tribal areas with a child support program who lived in married-couple families, 22% lived in poverty that year.
Figure 2. Poverty Rates for Native American Children in Tribal Areas with a Child Support Program and for All Children in the United States
Data Source: 2015 American Community Survey, 5-year estimates
Conclusion
These findings suggest that Native American children in tribal areas with child support programs are in great need of child support.