Gwen Gibson

1. What type of family structure are adopted children more likely to be adopted into? Does this vary by demographic location? Gwen Gibson

2. Literature Review • This research question is important because family structure is the beginning to placing children in happy, loving families. It is important to know that when a child is in an abusive home, the child can be protected and adopted into a new family (Guggenheim 2000), but we must question whether families of different structures share a community of interest and make joint decisions on important economic and social matters (Kuznets 1978). It is suggested that families with adopted and birth children are less successful than families with just adopted children (Barth and Brooks 1997). Single women are also more likely to adopt older children than single men (Hansen 2008). In adoptive and non-adoptive families, there is an emphasis on the importance of family processes, not so much family structure (Lansford, Ceballo and Stewart 2001). These are important because family structure shapes the community and social welfare programs that are needed, which leads us to the question of whether this changes by demographic location.

3. Works Cited • Barth, Richard P. and Devon Brooks. 1997. "A Longitudinal Study of Family Structure and Size and Adoption Outcomes." Adoption Quarterly 1(1):29-56. • Guggenheim, Martin. 2000. "Somebody's Children: Sustaining the Family's Place in Child Welfare Policy." Harvard Law Review 113:1716-1750. • Hansen, Mary E. 2008. "The Structure of Families Who Adopt Children from Foster Care." Journal of Public Child Welfare 2(4):427-449. • Kuznets, Simon. 1978. "Size and Age Structure of Family Households: Exploratory Comparisons." Population & Development Review 4(2):187-223. • Lansford, Jennifer E., Rosario Ceballo, Antonia Abbey and Abigail J. Stewart. 2001. "Does Family Structure Matter? A Comparison of Adoptive, Two-Parent Biological, Single-Mother, Stepfather, and Stepmother Households." Journal of Marriage & Family 63(3):840.

4. Data Sources Used • I used data that shows family structure based of adopted children based on state. • http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/family_structure2012.pdf

5. Data Analysis • 1. Copied & pasted the data and made it into appropriate rows & columns • 2. Added a column of the demographics by state • 3. Highlighted all the data > insert > pivot table • 4. Added ‘demographic’ to the row labels and ‘married’ to the values • 5. I got rid of the ‘blank’ under demographic • 6. Right click > summarize values as > average • 7. Clicked the percentage button at the top to make it percentage • 8. Insert > column > 2D column • 9. Copied & pasted the pivot table • 10. Changed ‘married’ to ‘unmarried’, change to average, percent, 2D column • 11. Copy new pivot table, change ‘unmarried’ to ‘single female’, average, percent, 2D column • 12. Copy new pivot table, change ‘single female’ to ‘single male’, average, percent, 2D column

6. Findings Married couples are more likely to adopt children in the West, and least likely in the Northeast.

7. Findings Unmarried couples are more likely to adopt in the Northeast than the South.

8. Findings Although it was close, single females are more likely to adopt in the Northeast than the West.

9. Findings It is very uncommon, but single males are more likely to adopt in the West by 1% than any other demographic.

10. Overall It is more likely that children will be adopted into married families, but this rate changes by demographic. This can lead to other potential questions such as: where are welfare programs for children being used the most and what adoption laws vary by state?