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

9.9%2019

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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 Children whose mothers experience employment instability exhibit more problem behaviors, such as bullying or being withdrawn, and are more likely to be absent from school than children whose mothers hold stable jobs or voluntarily change jobs.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, 2013-2020                          
  2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020*
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%
±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%
  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%
 ±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%
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%
 ±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%
Families with Own Children 198,279 198,761 194,732 201,485 194,866 184,183 184,657 193,724
±5,518 ±6,158 ±5,781 ±5,486 ±6,371 ±6,045 ±6,745 ±3,340
Source: US Census Bureau; ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table B23007, 2013-2019. 

*ACS 2020 5-year Estimate. 1-year estimates are not available for 2020 because of the impact of COVID-19 on data collection.

             

 

 

FAMILY TYPE: Bexar County, 2020

  Married-Couple Single Male  Single Female 
  Experiencing Instability 8,787 7.1% 1,942 13.4% 11,274 20.5%
±844 ±0.7% ±374 ±2.3% ±1,627 ±1.4%
  Unemployment 5,953 4.8% 394 2.7% 2,410 4.4%
±705 ±0.6% ±146 ±1.0% ±419 ±0.7%
No Labor Force Participation 2,834 2.3% 1,548 10.7% 8,864 16.1%
±463 ±0.4% ±344 ±2.2% ±744 ±1.2%
  Families with Own Children 124,171 14,529 55,024
±2,477 ±1,170 ±1,911
 

 

 

         

 

 

 

         

Source: US Census Bureau; ACS 5-Year Estimates, Table B23007, 2020.

Geographic Distribution

Black Population Zips:

Hispanic Population Zips:

White Population Zips:

Story Behind the Curve

What factors are pushing up on the data?

  • Alternative Sources of Income
  • Fear of Losing Benefits/Assistance
  • Education/Skills
  • Transportation
  • Support Systems (lack of) Child Care included
  • Language Barriers
  • Family Obligations not in Alignment with Work Schedule
  • Unstable Relationships
  • High # Single Earner Households

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
Partners
  • Goodwill
  • Alamo Collegesaaaaaaaaaaa
  • Alamo Workforce Solutions
  • SAHA
  • Employers
  • 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
Scorecard Result Container Indicator Measure Action Actual Value Target Value Tag S R I P PM A m/d/yy m/d/yyyy