Result 1. All children grow up in safe, stable, and nurturing environments

Indicator 1.3. % of families with children 0 to 17 experiencing employment instability

Current Value

14.5%

2021

Definition

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About the Data

This indicator includes all Census-defined families (opposite-sex married-couple families and families maintained by women and men with no spouse present) with own children 0-17 experiencing employment instability in the past year. Families experiencing employment instability are those where at least one householder is in the labor force but unemployed or no householder is in the labor force. The margin of error based on a 90-percent confidence interval is presented alongside each estimate

All quantitative data and narrative related to the data on this page was prepared by CI NOW for ReadyKidSA.

Why Is This Important?

Parental employment instability has been linked to poor academic outcomes, such as grade retention and lower educational attainment. Parental job loss can also lead to poor social-emotional outcomes for young children. Children whose mothers experience employment instability exhibit more problem behaviors, such as bullying or being withdrawn, and are more likely to be absent from school than children whose mothers hold stable jobs or voluntarily change jobs. (Urban Institute, 2013)

For more information see: http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/...

Race/Ethnicity

OVERALL TREND: Bexar County, 2013-2021
	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017		2018		2019		2020*		2021
Experiencing Instability	25,014	12.6%	23,914	12.0%	22,149	11.4%	23,336	11.6%	22,459	11.5%	20,189	11.0%	18,200	9.9%	22,003	11.4%	33,625	14.5%
Experiencing Instability	±2,866	±1.4%	±2,623	±1.3%	±2,822	±1.4%	±2,814	±1.4%	±2,630	±1.3%	±2,728	±1.4%	±2,379	±1.2%	±1,871	±0.9%	±3,943	±1.6%
Unemployment	11,399	5.7%	10,236	5.1%	8,293	4.3%	9,255	4.6%	7,934	4.1%	7,054	3.8%	7,269	3.9%	8,757	4.5%	15,751	6.8%
Unemployment	±1,885	±0.9%	±1,737	±0.9%	±1,828	±0.9%	±1,818	±0.9%	±1,634	±0.8%	±1,529	±0.8%	±1,626	±0.9%	±833	±0.4%	±2,814	±1.2%
No Labor Force Participation	13,615	6.9%	13,678	6.9%	13,856	7.1%	14,081	7.0%	14,525	7.5%	13,135	7.1%	10,931	5.9%	13,246	6.8%	17,874	7.7%
No Labor Force Participation	±2,158	±1.1%	±1,965	±1.0%	±2,150	±1.1%	±2,148	±1.0%	±2,060	±1.1%	±2,260	±1.2%	±1,736	±0.91%	±941	±0.5%	±2,762	±1.2%
Families with Own Children	198,279		198,761		194,732		201,485		194,866		184,183		184,657		193,724		232,013
Families with Own Children	±5,518		±6,158		±5,781		±5,486		±6,371		±6,045		±6,745		±3,340		±7,773
Source: US Census Bureau; ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table B23007, 2013-2021. *ACS 2020 5-year Estimate. 1-year estimates were not available for 2020 because of the impact of COVID-19 on data collection.

FAMILY TYPE: Bexar County, 2021

	Married-Couple		Single Male		Single Female
Experiencing Instability	13,305	9.2%	3,695	16.5%	16,625	25.3%
Experiencing Instability	(±2,479)	(±1.6%)	(±1,261)	(±5.1%)	(±2,795)	(±3.8%)
Unemployment	9,266	6.40%	1,816	8.10%	4,669	7.10%
Unemployment	(±2,160)	(±1.4%)	(±903)	(±3.9%)	(±1,561)	(±2.3%)
No Labor Force Participation	4,039	2.80%	1,879	8.40%	11,956	18.20%
No Labor Force Participation	(±1,217)	(±0.8%)	(±880)	(±3.7%)	(±2,318)	(±3.2%)
Families with Own Children	144,053		22,377		65,583
Families with Own Children	(±6,255)		(±3,323)		(±5,066)

Source: US Census Bureau; ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table B23007, 2021.

Geographic Distribution

Black Population Zips:

Hispanic Population Zips:

White Population Zips:

Story Behind the Curve

What factors are pushing up on the data?

Fear of Losing Benefits/Assistance
Education/Skills
Transportation/Childcare
Support Systems (lack of) Child Care included
Language Barriers
Family Obligations/ Cultural beliefs and practices

What factors are pushing down on the data?

Complex Family Structures Not Capturedafafafafafafafafa
Overall Decrease in Unemployment
Education/Skill
Short-term Skill Training & Certifications
Assistance in Job Placement
Increased employment opportunities at living wage
Increased in educational opportunities with wrap around services
Supports addressing the benefits cliff

Partners

Goodwill
Alamo Colleges
Alamo Workforce Solutions
Any Baby Can
AVANCE
SAHA

Catholic Charities
Employers
Family Service
Non-profits
Case Management programs*
SA Works

What Works

Evidence-Based Practices

SA works
United Way Dual Generation Programs
HPOG
Earned income disregard

Promising Practices

Volunteeringagagagagagagagagagagaga
Internships
School involvement
Childcare options
Family Support Services

No Cost/Low Cost Solutions

Policies/Systems

Outside the Box Thinking

Ban the Box “Ex-offender” Policy
Income supplements policy

Solutions and Strategies

Direct Service

Bringing best practices and lessons learned from the Dual Generation program model serving children and parents/caregivers on San Antonio's Eastside, to implement a two-generation model in other parts of the city and county that simultaneously strengthens educational outcomes for children ages 0 to 8 while promoting financial security for adults in the home through education and employment services

Policy

Develop and implement a policy that provides a phased-in approach to the benefits cliff, thereby helping families to plan for and manage increasing financial stability
Connected to the benefits cliff issue, encourage a grace period or an income waiver as families begin to increase their earnings, helping to offset the immediate loss of income as they cross the new economic threshold

Funding

Scale the dual credit model in high schools, thereby increasing pathways to the workforce for youth

Other

To ensure working families have access to employment services, modify service delivery models so that extended hours are also offered

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