Associations between Financial Inclusion, Liquid Assets, Income Shocks, and Later Housing Instability in Households Headed by a Single Mother

Abstract

Single mothers negotiate the competing demands of family life and the formal market economy on an unequal playing field. As a result, they are disproportionately represented among households in extreme poverty and have little resources set aside to sustain their families’ financial stability. Little research has explored how fragile household finances relate to material outcomes for single mothers. Specifically, the existing literature has failed to explore how financial instability is a manifestation of the feminization of poverty that may be related to housing instability. This dissertation lends insight into how financial exclusion, limited liquid assets, and income shocks are related to missing housing payments among different household types. Using a sample of households from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (N=9,620), results of logistic regression models suggest that single mothers, especially those who are financially excluded, do not have adequate liquid assets, and have experienced an income shock, are at increased risk of missing a housing payment. These findings are discussed in relationship to social work practice, policy, and future research.