3 research outputs found
Joint custody law and mothers' labor market outcomes: evidence from the USA
This paper studies the economic implications for mothers of the changes
in child custody law from maternal preference to joint custody using the 1960–2000
Census Public Use Micro Sample (IPUMS). Variation in the timing of the joint custody
reform across states provides a natural experimental framework to study the
causal effect of shared custody on mothers’ economic outcomes. The results show
that only single mothers experience a decrease in earnings as a consequence of the
adoption of the joint custody law, exposing them to a higher risk of poverty. The
paper discusses a possible explanation for these findings, namely that the higher child
support payment the mother receives from the non-custodial father in case of joint
custody might discourage her from looking for high paid jobs or investing in her
career