Is My Parents' Divorce to Blame for My Failure in Life? A joint Model of Child Educational Attainments and Parental Divorce

This study examines the potential causal effect of parental divorce on child educational attainments, using annual data on individuals covering the entire time span between birth until the completion of ones schooling drawn from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). A joint hazard model of schooling attainment and parental marital dissolution is estimated, allowing for correlations between unobserved factors that affect the parents’ human capital investment choices toward their children and their decision to divorce. After accounting for dynamic variations in family socioeconomic circumstances, experiences, and family unobserved heterogeneity, this study finds no evidence that divorce negatively affects children’s long-term educational attainments. The findings suggest that the differences in educational attainments between children of divorced and intact parents are not attributable to divorce, but rather the underlying mechanism that triggered divorce in the first place.Marriage, Divorce, Adolescent Outcome, Educational Attainment, Joint Hazard Model

New Estimates on the Effect of Parental Separation on Child Health

This study examines the causal link between parental non-marital relationship dissolution and the health status of young children. Using a representative sample of children all born out of wedlock drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we investigate whether separation between unmarried biological parents has a causal effect on a child’s likelihood of developing asthma. Adopting a potential outcome framework to account for selection of relationship dissolution, we find that children whose parents separate within three years after childbirth are seven percent more likely to develop asthma by age three, compared to if their parents had remained romantically involved. We provide evidence that socioeconomically disadvantaged fathers are more likely to see the relationship with their child’s mother end, and selection into relationship dissolution along these dimensions helps explain the poorer health outcomes found among out-of-wedlock children whose parents separate.Child Asthma, Fragile Families, Relationship Dissolution, Propensity Score Matching

Should We Get Married? The Effect of Parents' Marriage on Out-of-Wedlock Children

Using a representative sample of children all born to unwed parents drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and a potential outcome approach to account for self-selection into marriage, we investigate whether marriage after childbearing has a causal effect on early child development. Comparing children with similar background characteristics and parental mate-selection patterns who differ only in terms of whether their parents marry after childbirth, we find that marriage after childbirth significantly increases a child’s early cognitive performance but there is no evidence that it affects child asthma risk or child behavioral outcomes.Marriage after Childbearing, Child Outcomes, Propensity Score Matching