Family Configurations of Disability in the 2000 Census

Roger Avery, Brown University
Dennis Hogan, Brown University

This paper examines the prevalence of family configuration of disability (an adult with disability, another child with disability, or both an adult and another child with disability) for children with and without disabilities. Measures of family well-being are calculated for children with and without disabilities, classified according to the family configuration of disability. Descriptive tables and logistic regression models are calculated. For children who themselves have a disability, we find that the disability of other members of the household will have especially deleterious effects, particularly when an adult member of the household has a disability. The circumstances of these children are further worsened in situations where both an adult and another child have disabilities.