Low-income families experience multiple forms of instability, yet researchers have often focused on a single type of instability. This study used data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and examined patterns of multiple instability among low-income families with children, focusing on income, family structure, and residential instability. We employed sequence and cluster analyses to identify five distinct longitudinal profiles of multiple instability over five time points in a 2-year time period. The two largest profile groups experienced moderate overall and multiple instability (32 percent of families) or no instability (24 percent of families), with the remaining families experiencing increasing, decreasing, or persistent patterns of instability. There were stark differences between families in the no-instability group and the other families. Our findings suggest safety net programs must be more responsive to multiple forms of instability for all low-income families, and for certain subgroups of highly unstable groups in particular.

中文翻译：

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有孩子的低收入家庭的多重不稳定模式

低收入家庭会经历多种形式的不稳定，但研究人员通常只关注单一类型的不稳定。这项研究使用了收入和计划参与调查的数据，并检查了有孩子的低收入家庭的多重不稳定模式，重点关注收入、家庭结构和住宅不稳定。我们采用序列和聚类分析来确定 2 年时间段内五个时间点的多重不稳定性的五个不同纵向剖面。最大的两个群体经历了中度整体和多重不稳定（32% 的家庭）或没有不稳定（24% 的家庭），其余家庭经历了增加、减少或持续的不稳定模式。非不稳定组的家庭与其他家庭之间存在明显差异。我们的研究结果表明，安全网计划必须对所有低收入家庭，尤其是高度不稳定群体的某些子群体的多种形式的不稳定做出更积极的反应。