Children with "secure parental employment" are defined as those residing with at least one parent who was employed full-time (worked 35 or more hours per week for 50 or more weeks) in the previous year. Parents with secure employment are less likely to be in poverty and are more likely to have access to affordable health care.
Between 1980 and 1999, the percentage of children with secure parental employment increased from 72 percent to 77 percent. In 1999, the percentage of children with secure parental employment ranged from 59 percent among black children to 83 percent among non-Hispanic white children. The percentages of Hispanic children and children of Asians and Pacific Islanders who had secure parental employment were above the midpoint of that range.
