Intimate Partner Violence and Material Hardship Among Urban Mothers

Using a longitudinal population-based sample (n = 4,234), this study explored the association of intimate partner violence (IPV) with material hardship. We found that women who experienced IPV are substantially more likely to experience material hardship, even after controlling for a comprehensive set of static and time-varying characteristics, including material hardship at the prior wave and individual fixed effects. Associations were strongest for experiences of physical abuse (the least prevalent type of IPV) and controlling abuse (the most prevalent type of IPV) but were weaker for emotional abuse. Results suggest that IPV increases the probability of material hardship by 10-25%.