Cohabitation and divorce across nations and generations

Parental divorce has been an increasing experience amongst the generations of children born since the 1970s in European countries. This study analyses data on the partnership and parenthood behaviour of those children who experienced parental separation during childhood for nine Western European nations, as well as Britain and the USA. Across all nations the hallmarks of the adult demographic behaviour of children who experienced parental divorce (compared with those who did not) are that they are more likely to form partnerships and to become parents at a young age; they are more likely to opt for cohabitation over marriage; they are less likely to have their first child within marriage; and their own partnerships and marriages are in turn more likely to terminate. Recently available data from the 1970 cohort was also used to search for prior factors that might throw light on why the partnership and parenthood behaviour of children who had experienced parental separation might differ from their peers without such an experience.divorce, parental divorce, cohabitation, comparative study, longitudinal, inter-generational

The divorced and who divorces?

The Family Resources Survey was used to identify the characteristics of the divorced population and two longitudinal studies, the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the National Child Development Study (NCDS) were used to address the question 'who divorces ?'. The BHPS allowed the examination of this issue ofr individuals and couples whereas the NCDS data allowed the examination of childhood and adolescence factors associated with partnership dissolution in adulthood. Unemployment, reliance on state benefits and disability featured as characteristics of the currently divorced and these factors, along with financial difficulties, were also found to be important precursors of divorce. There was evidence from both the BHPS and the NCDS of an association between emotional factors and subsequent partnership breakdown. In sum, people who embarked on partnerships at an early age, cohabitants, those who had experienced parental divorce, and those who were economically, somatically and emotionally vulnerable had higher risks of divorce

The Legacy of Parental Divorce: Social, economic and demographic experiences in adulthood

This study addresses three questions. Firstly, to what extent does divorce during childhood have long-term consequences for the educational attainment, economic situation, partnership formation and dissolution, and parenthood behaviour in adulthood? We show that in most of these domains children who experience parental divorce in childhood have more negative experiences than children reared by both their parents. However, in answering our second question, as to whether child and family characteristics preceding divorce attenuates the relationship between the divorce itself and adult outcomes, we show that for the non-demographic ones there is evidence of powerful selection effects operating, particularly to do with financial hardship. In other words, children who grow up with both biological parents may end up better off educationally and economically largely because they were advantaged to begin with, not necessarily because their parents stayed together. The third question was - if parents remain together until their children are grown up before separating does this lessen the legacy of divorce on their adult children's lives? The answer is in the affirmative for most of the adult outcomes, but the instability of partnerships and marriages was as high amongst those whose parents separated after they had grown up as those who experienced parental divorce during childhood.divorce, demography, impact on children

Non-residential Fatherhood and Child Involvement: Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study

Fifteen per cent of British babies are now born to parents who are neither cohabiting nor married. Little is known about non-residential fatherhood that commences with the birth of a child. Here, we use the Millennium Cohort Study to examine a number of aspects of this form of fatherhood. Firstly, we consider the extent to which these fathers were involved with or acknowledged their child at the time of the birth. Secondly, we identify the characteristics that differentiate parents who continue to live apart from those who move in together. Thirdly, for the fathers who moved in with the mother and their child we enquire whether they differ in the extent of their engagement in family life compared with fathers who have been living with the mother since birth. Finally, for fathers who were living apart from their child when the child was 9 months old we assess the extent to which they were in contact, contributed to their maintenance and were involved in their child's life at this time.non-resident fathers, ethnic families, fatherhood, father involvement, unmarried mothers, non-marital births, cohabiting parents

The Divorced and Who Divorces? (published as ch.16 in "Changing Britain: Families and Households in the 1990s", S McRae (ed), OUP, 1999)

The Family Resources Survey was used to identify the characteristics of the divorced population and two longitudinal studies, the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the National Child Development Study (NCDS) were used to address the question 'who divorces ?'. The BHPS allowed the examination of this issue ofr individuals and couples whereas the NCDS data allowed the examination of childhood and adolescence factors associated with partnership dissolution in adulthood. Unemployment, reliance on state benefits and disability featured as characteristics of the currently divorced and these factors, along with financial difficulties, were also found to be important precursors of divorce. There was evidence from both the BHPS and the NCDS of an association between emotional factors and subsequent partnership breakdown. In sum, people who embarked on partnerships at an early age, cohabitants, those who had experienced parental divorce, and those who were economically, somatically and emotionally vulnerable had higher risks of divorce.divorce, longitudinal study

Poverty, Maternal Depression, Family Status and Children's Cognitive and Behavioural Development in Early Childhood: A Longitudinal Study

Improving children's lives is high on the UK policy agenda. In this study for a recent birth cohort of UK children we examine how three aspects of parental resources - income, mother's mental well-being and family status - in early childhood enhance or compromise their children's cognitive and behavioural development. As well as examining how these three aspects of parental resources separately and jointly affect children's well-being, we also enquire whether persistent poverty or persistent maternal depression are more deleterious for children's current well-being than periodic episodes of poverty and depression. We find strong associations between poverty and young children's intellectual and behavioural development, and persistent poverty was found to be particularly important in relation to children's cognitive development. Maternal depression (net of other factors) was more weakly related to cognitive development but strongly related to whether children were exhibiting behaviour problems, and persistent depression amplified the situation. Family status, net of other factors (most noticeably poverty), was only weakly associated with children's development

Childhood Poverty, Early Motherhood and Adult Social Exclusion

Childhood poverty and early parenthood are both high on the political agenda. The key new issue addressed in this research is the relative importance of childhood poverty and of early motherhood as correlates of outcomes later in life. How far are the 'effects' of early motherhood on later outcomes due to childhood precursors, especially experience of childhood poverty? If there are powerful associations of both childhood poverty and early parenthood with later adult outcomes, there are a number of subsidiary questions relating to the magnitude of these associations, the particular threshold levels of childhood poverty that prove most critical, and whether it is, as often assumed, only teenage mothers who are subsequently disadvantaged, or also those who have their first birth in their early twenties? The source of data for this study is the National Child Development Study. We examine a range of outcomes at age 33 in a number of domains representing different aspects of adult social exclusion, including: welfare, socio-economic, physical health, and emotional well-being, as well as demographic behaviour. We control for a wide range of childhood factors: poverty; social class of origin and of father; mother's and father's school leaving age; family structure; housing tenure; mother's and father's interest in education; personality attributes; performance on educational tests; and contact with the police by age 16. We show that there are clear associations for the adult outcomes with age at first birth, even after controlling for childhood poverty and a wide range of other childhood background factors. Moreover, we demonstrate that the widest gulf in adult outcomes occurs for those who enter motherhood early (before age 23), though further reinforced for teenage motherhood for most adult outcomes. We also show that it is any experience of childhood poverty that is most clearly associated with adverse outcomes in adulthood, with additional reinforcement for highePoverty, early motherhood, social exclusion, outcomes in later life

Mothers’ Investments in Child Health in the U.S. and U.K.: A Comparative Lens on the Immigrant 'Paradox'

Research on the immigrant paradox healthier behaviors and outcomes among more socioeconomically disadvantaged immigrants is mostly limited to the U.S. Hispanic population and to the study of birth outcomes. Using data from the Fragile Families Study and the Millennium Cohort Study, we expand our understanding of this phenomenon in several ways. First, we examine whether the healthier behaviors of Hispanic immigrant mothers extend to other foreign-born groups, including non-Hispanic immigrant mothers in the U.S. and white, South Asian, black African and Caribbean, and other (largely East Asian) immigrants in the U.K, including higher SES groups. Second, we consider not only the size of the paradox at the time of the child's birth, but also the degree of its persistence into early childhood. Third, we examine whether nativity disparities are weaker in the U.K., where a much stronger welfare state makes health information and care more readily accessible. Finally, we examine whether differences in mothers’ instrumental and social support both inside and out of the home can explain healthier behaviors among the foreign-born. The results suggest that healthier behaviors among immigrants are not limited to Hispanics or to low SES groups; that nativity differences are fairly persistent over time; that the immigrant advantage is equally strong in both countries; and that the composition and strength of mothers’ support plays a trivial explanatory role in both countries. These findings lead us to speculate that what underlies nativity differences in mothers’ health behaviors may be a strong parenting investment on the part of immigrants.Fragile Families Study, Millennium Cohort Study, immigrants, behavior