Millennial Noncustodial Fathers are Less Likely to Work vs Generation X
Using data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, we can compare the employment and poverty status of millennial noncustodial fathers during 2015 to 2017 to Generation X noncustodial fathers in 2002 when they were about the same age as millennials during 2015 to 2017.6
Figure 7 shows that millennial noncustodial fathers were significantly less likely to have worked during the 12 months prior to participating in the survey than Generation X noncustodial fathers when they were about the same age (in 2002). Ten percent of millennial noncustodial fathers did not work during the 12 months prior to participating in the 2015-2017 survey. In contrast, when Generation X noncustodial fathers were about the same age, 4% of them had not worked during the 12 months prior to participating in the survey. Figure 7 also shows that the percent of millennial noncustodial fathers who worked full-time was 69% during 2015 to 2017, but 75% among Generation X noncustodial fathers in 2002 when they were about the same age.
Figure 8 shows that 28% of millennial noncustodial fathers lived in poverty in 2015-2017. In 2002, when Generation X noncustodial fathers were about the same age, 22% of them lived in poverty. This difference (28% vs. 22%) is not statistically significant. Thus, the poverty rate among millennial noncustodial fathers was not significantly different than that experienced by Generation X noncustodial fathers when they were the same age. However, Figure 8 also shows that 43% of millennial noncustodial fathers lived in near poverty (i.e. between 100% and 200% of the poverty threshold) in 2015-2017, but only 28% of Generation X noncustodial fathers lived in near poverty at about the same age in 2002. This difference (43% vs. 28%) is statistically significant. Thus, millennial noncustodial fathers were significantly more likely to be living in near poverty than Generation X noncustodial fathers when they were the same age.
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