Black–White disparities in nuclear family trajectories and parents' postsecondary transfers to adult children

Abstract

Objective This study uses a life course perspective to investigate Black–White disparities in how nuclear family structures (i.e., parents' romantic union statuses and coresidential arrangements with children) are linked with postsecondary financial transfers. Background In the United States, both parents' nuclear family experiences and postsecondary transfers are stratified along racial lines. Prior research suggests that racial disparities in nuclear family experiences, however, are not key drivers of the gap in parental postsecondary transfers. The small role that nuclear family structure plays in shaping the Black–White gap in postsecondary transfers may result from heterogeneity in the consequences of such structures across racial groups, though this heterogeneity remains untested. Method Using the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (https://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/) and sequence analysis techniques, this study documents seven common family trajectories experienced by American parents (N = 7289). It employs two‐part models to assess whether the association between parents' trajectories and the likelihood/magnitude of postsecondary transfers differs for Black and White parents. Results Results suggest that White parents who are continuously in two‐biological‐parent families or who experience long‐term re‐partnering are more likely to make postsecondary transfers than Black parents in similar family trajectories. These racial disparities, however, disappear when parents experience trajectories marked by singlehood or nonresidence with children. Conclusions Nuclear family structures matter less for structuring transfers for Black parents in part because gains from romantic partnerships are concentrated among Whites. Implications for reproductions of racial inequalities are discussed.