Social and Cultural Determinants of Child Poverty in the United States

Abstract

This study considers social capital and religious adherence as determinants of child poverty in the United States and finds that both social capital and religious adherence play a role in U.S. child poverty at the county level. The study also disaggregates the total religious adherence variable into Mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, and Catholics and finds that the effects of these denominations on child poverty are mixed. The model is tested for spatial dependence bias and the test results show that without spatial correction, the OLS results may be biased and inefficient.

Keywords:

• child poverty
• religion
• social capital
• U.S. counties