Abstract
I estimate the effect an adoptee’s race has on their chance of interracial adoption. I use data provided by the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents for the linear regression, one of the only sources of individual data on adopted children. The study tests the idea that adopting outside of one’s race provides greater utility to the adopter since it is perceived as more altruistic relative to adopting within one’s race. For the purpose of the study, any circumstance where at least one adoptive parent differs in race from the adoptee is considered an interracial adoption. Ultimately, the results indicate that race was statistically significant. White adoptees were the least likely to enter into an interracial adoption, and Hispanic adoptees were the most likely to be adopted into an interracial family. However, the adopters’ level of poverty was a more significant factor in determining the likelihood of an interracial adoption.
Included in
Does an adoptee’s race affect the probability of an interracial adoption?
I estimate the effect an adoptee’s race has on their chance of interracial adoption. I use data provided by the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents for the linear regression, one of the only sources of individual data on adopted children. The study tests the idea that adopting outside of one’s race provides greater utility to the adopter since it is perceived as more altruistic relative to adopting within one’s race. For the purpose of the study, any circumstance where at least one adoptive parent differs in race from the adoptee is considered an interracial adoption. Ultimately, the results indicate that race was statistically significant. White adoptees were the least likely to enter into an interracial adoption, and Hispanic adoptees were the most likely to be adopted into an interracial family. However, the adopters’ level of poverty was a more significant factor in determining the likelihood of an interracial adoption.