Married with Children
Should We Get Married? The Effect of Parents' Marriage on Out-Of-Wedlock Children
Shirley Liu & Frank Heiland
Economic Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
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 behavioral outcomes.
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Causal evidence that terrorism salience increases authoritarian parenting practices
Peter Fischer et al.
Social Psychology, Fall 2010, Pages 246-254
Abstract:
The present research experimentally investigated the impact of terrorism salience on authoritarian practices. It was found that terrorist threat cues (induced by reminders of terrorist incidents) had a significant impact upon both attitudes and behaviors regarding authoritarian parenting practices (Studies 1 and 2) as well as their actual occurrence in a real parent-child playing interaction (Study 3). The implications of these findings for the social psychological perspective on threat and parenting style are discussed.
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Is Marriage Always Good for Children? Evidence from Families Affected by Incarceration
Keith Finlay & David Neumark
Journal of Human Resources, Fall 2010, Pages 1046-1088
Abstract:
Never-married motherhood is associated with worse educational outcomes for children. But this association may reflect other factors that also determine family structure, rather than causal effects. We use incarceration rates for men as instrumental variables in estimating the effect of never-married motherhood on the high school dropout rate of black and His-panic children. We find that unobserved factors drive the negative relationship between never-married motherhood and child education, at least for children of women whose marriage decisions are affected by incarceration of men. For Hispanics we find evidence that these children actually may be better off living with a never-married mother.
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Unanticipated Educational Consequences of a Positive Parent-Child Relationship
Ruth López Turley, Matthew Desmond & Sarah Bruch
Journal of Marriage and Family, October 2010, Pages 1377-1390
Abstract:
If today there exists a single transcendent idea about the family-school connection, it is that a positive parent-child relationship improves children's chances of succeeding in school. However, using data from the Texas Higher Education Opportunity Project (N = 5,836), we demonstrate that, although positive parent-child relations are associated with better academic achievement in high school, they also are associated with an increased desire to live at home during college, which in turn decreases students' chances of enrolling in a 4-year college. Furthermore, we replicated some of these associations using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,120), demonstrating that positive family dynamics can influence educational outcomes in potentially divergent and unanticipated directions.
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Soccer Moms, Hockey Moms and the Question of "Transformative" Motherhood
Jill Greenlee
Politics & Gender, September 2010, Pages 405-431
Abstract:
From Dwight Eisenhower to John McCain, presidential candidates have appealed to female voters by highlighting motherhood in their campaigns. The most recent example of this has been the "hockey mom" trope introduced by the first hockey mom to earn a slot on the GOP presidential ticket, Governor Sarah Palin. These appeals, while motivated by political gamesmanship, imply that mothers see the political world a bit differently from other women. They suggest that women with children have different political priorities and concerns and, at times, different positions on political issues. This article takes this proposition seriously, and asks the question: Does becoming a mother have a transformative effect on women's political attitudes? Using longitudinal data from the four-wave 1965-97 Political Socialization Panel Study, I track the movement of women's political attitudes on partisan identification, ideological identification, and policy issues. I find that the effects of motherhood on women's political attitudes, while not uniform in nature, do push some women to adopt more conservative political attitudes. Thus, these results suggest that while motherhood does not transform women's political attitudes, for some women motherhood does promote interesting attitudinal shifts.
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Child-Adoption Matching: Preferences for Gender and Race
Mariagiovanna Baccara, Allan Collard-Wexler, Leonardo Felli & Leeat Yariv
NBER Working Paper, October 2010
Abstract:
This paper uses a new data set on child-adoption matching to document the preferences of potential adoptive parents over U.S.-born and unborn children relinquished for adoption by their birth mothers. We show that adoptive parents exhibit significant preferences in favor of girls and against African- American children. A non-African-American child relinquished for adoption attracts the interest of potential adoptive parents with probability 11.5% if it is a girl and 7.9% if it is a boy. As for race, a non-African-American child has a probability of attracting the interest of an adopting parent at least seven times as high as the corresponding probability for an African-American child. In addition, we show that a child's desirability in the adoption process depends significantly on time to birth (increasing over the pregnancy, but decreasing after birth) and on adoption costs. We also document the attitudes toward children's characteristics across different categories of adoptive parents - heterosexual and same-sex couples, as well as single women and foreign couples. Finally, we consider several recently discussed policies excluding same-sex and foreign couples from the adoption process. In our data, such policies would reduce the number of adopted children by 6% and 33%, respectively, and have a disproportionate effect on African-American children.
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Inflation and other aggregate determinants of the trend in US divorce rates since the 1960s
J.M. Nunley
Applied Economics, October 2010, Pages 3367-3381
Abstract:
This article extends empirical research on the determinants of divorce in two ways. First, I examine the effect of inflation on divorce. Second, the use of a structural time-series modelling approach attributes unobservables and omitted variables to an unobserved component, which allows for the model's parameters to be estimated consistently. Inflation is statistically significant, positive and persistent. I show that the effects of inflation are robust to the inclusion of additional explanatory variables and various trend specifications. The long-run implications of inflation are also substantial. I conclude that price stability has the potential to reduce divorce rates.
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Sex Differences in Parenting Behaviors in Single-Mother and Single-Father Households
Mikaela Dufur, Nyssa Howell, Douglas Downey, James Ainsworth & Alice Lapray
Journal of Marriage and Family, October 2010, Pages 1092-1106
Abstract:
Research on family structure has led some to claim that sex-based parenting differences exist. But if such differences exist in single-parent families, the absence of a second parent rather than specific sex-typed parenting might explain them. We examine differences in mothering and fathering behavior in single-parent households, where number of parents is held constant, and we describe individualist and structuralist perspectives for potential sex-based parenting behaviors. We compare 3,202 single mothers and 307 single fathers in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (Kindergarten Cohort). Results suggest that, although there are small differences in the parenting behaviors of single mothers and single fathers, differences are sensitive to demographic disparities and do not translate to academic deficits for children in either family type.
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What Determines Family Structure?
David Blau & Wilbert Van Der Klaauw
Economic Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
We use data from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate the effects of policy and labor market variables on the demographic behaviors that determine children's family structure experiences: union formation and dissolution, and fertility. Male and female wages have substantial effects on family structure for children of black and Hispanic mothers. The tax treatment of children also affects family structure. Welfare reform, welfare benefits, and unilateral divorce had much smaller effects on family structure for the children of this cohort of women. Trends in wages and tax rates explain only a small share of the observed changes in family structure in recent decades.
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Child-custody reform, marital investment in children, and the labor supply of married mothers
John Nunley & Richard Alan Seals
Labour Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research on child custody primarily focuses on the well-being of children following divorce. We extend this literature by examining how the prospect of joint child custody affects within-marriage investment in children through changes in household bargaining power. Variation in the timing of joint-custody reforms across states provides a natural-experiment framework with which to examine within-marriage investment in children. The probability of children's private school attendance declines by 12 percent in states that adopt joint-custody laws. We also find evidence linking joint-custody reform to higher rates of labor force participation for married mothers, which may indicate less time devoted to household production.
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Unchanging child support orders in the face of unstable earnings
Yoonsook Ha, Maria Cancian & Daniel Meyer
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Fall 2010, Pages 799-820
Abstract:
The underlying theory behind child support guidelines implies that child support orders should change when the incomes of noncustodial parents change. This paper documents changes in noncustodial fathers' earnings over a five-year period and examines the relationship between the changes in earnings and modifications in child support orders. Using detailed longitudinal administrative data from Wisconsin, the authors examine the history of orders and earnings for fathers in couples who had their first child support ordered in 2000. A substantial proportion of fathers experience large changes in earnings, but relatively few of the associated child support orders are modified. Using discrete-time multinomial event history models that consider time-varying variables and control for censored observations, we find some evidence of changes in earnings being associated with changes in orders, all else equal, but the relationship is relatively weak and order changes are not proportional to earnings changes. The findings highlight the challenges and importance of developing policies that result in child support orders being more responsive to changes in fathers' incomes.
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Karol Kumpfer, Henry Whiteside, Jeanie Ahearn Greene & Keely Cofrin Allen
Group Dynamics, September 2010, Pages 211-229
Abstract:
Family dysfunction is unacceptably high nationally and internationally with high costs to society in adolescent problems. A number of evidence-based (EB) parenting and family interventions have been proven in research to improve children's outcome. The question remains whether these EB family programs are as effective in practice. This article summarizes research outcomes from a quasi-experimental, 5-year statewide study of the 14-session Strengthening Families Program (SFP) with over 1,600 high-risk families. The study compared outcomes including effect sizes for the four different age versions of SFP (SFP 3-5, 6-11, 10-14, and 12-16 years). Quality assurance and program fidelity were enhanced by standardized training workshops, site visits by evaluators, and online supervision. Outcomes were measured using the SFP Parent Retrospective testing battery containing self-report standardized clinical measures of 18 parent, family, and child outcomes. The 2 repeated measures by 4 group ANOVA compared the four different age versions of SFP. All of the outcome variables for the four programs were statistically significant at less than the p < .05 level except for reductions in Criminal Behavior and Hyperactivity in the older 10 to 16 year-olds. The effect sizes were larger than in prior randomized control design of SFP. The average effect sizes for both the Parenting and Family Cluster scores range from a high Cohen's d = .77 for SFP 6-11 years to effect size of d = .67 for SFP 3-5 and 10-14. The largest effect sizes were for improvements for the SFP 6-11 condition in Family Communication and Family Strengths and Resilience (d = .76 for both), Family Organization (d = .75), Parental Supervision (d = .73), Parenting Efficacy (d = .70), and Positive Parenting (d = .67). Parental alcohol and drug use was reduced most in the SFP 12-16 year version (d = .43).
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Differential susceptibility to parenting among African American youths: Testing the DRD4 hypothesis
Steven Beach, Gene Brody, Man-Kit Lei & Robert Philibert
Journal of Family Psychology, October 2010, Pages 513-521
Abstract:
To test the differential susceptibility to parenting hypothesis, a 4-wave, randomized prevention design was used to examine the impact of the Strong African American Families program on past-month substance use across 29 months as a function of DRD4 genotype. Youths (N = 337; M age = 11.65 years) were assigned randomly to treatment condition. Those carrying a 7-repeat allele showed greater differential response to intervention vs. control than those with two 4-repeat alleles. Control youths but not treatment youths with a 7-repeat allele reported increases in past-month substance use across the 29-month study period, but this pattern did not emerge for those with the 4-repeat allele. Supporting the differential susceptibility to parenting hypothesis, the results suggest a greater preventive effect for youths carrying a 7-repeat allele, a role for DRD4 in the escalation of substance use during adolescence, and potential for an enhanced understanding of early-onset substance use.
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Economies of Scale in the Household: Puzzles and Patterns from the American Past
Trevon Logan
Economic Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
Estimates of household economies of scale are critical for measuring income and living standards, yet we know little about how these scale economies change over time. I use American household expenditure surveys to produce the first comparable historical estimates of household scale economies. I find that scale economies changed significantly from 1888 to 1935 for all expenditure categories considered (food, clothing, entertainment, and housing), but not all trends in scale economies are consistent with theoretical predictions. As such, our notions about household economies of scale must be reassessed in light of this historical evidence.
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Exploring Variation in Teenage Mothers' and Fathers' Educational Attainment
Stefanie Mollborn
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, September 2010, Pages 152-159
Context: A substantial body of research has compared educational outcomes of teenage parents with those of their childless peers, but less attention has gone to variations among teenage parents. Additionally, gender differences in teenage parents' educational outcomes have rarely been studied.
Methods: Characteristics associated with high school graduation by age 26 were assessed among 317 teenage mothers and fathers who participated in the 1988-2000 National Education Longitudinal Study. Logistic regression models included socioeconomic and educational characteristics, gender, parenting responsibilities and resources, and gender interactions.
Results: Married or cohabiting teenage parents living with no or one parent had 73% lower odds of graduation than single respondents living with two parents. Gender moderated the relationships between two parenting responsibilities and the likelihood of graduation: Fathers working at least half-time were less likely than nonworking fathers to graduate (odds ratio, 0.2), and fathers who were primary caregivers had substantially elevated odds of graduating (7.4), but no similar relationships were seen among mothers. Sixty-one percent of fathers who worked but were not primary caregivers were predicted to graduate by age 26, compared with 97% of those who were nonworking primary caregivers.
Conclusions: Traditional parenting norms, according to which mothers are primary caregivers and fathers are breadwinners, do not appear to be associated with improved odds of graduating. Policies and interventions aimed at helping teenage parents graduate may be most effective if they target both genders, but some are likely to be more beneficial for one gender than the other.
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Julianna Deardorff et al.
Journal of Adolescent Health, forthcoming
Purpose: Numerous studies show associations between father absence and girls' early puberty. However, most research has been retrospective, focused on menarche, and failed to consider body mass index (BMI), ethnicity, and income in the analyses. This study resolves these scientific gaps.
Methods: This was a prospective study of 444 girls aged 6-8 years and their caregivers (96% mothers). Data were collected annually in clinic, including weight, height, and Tanner stage for breast and pubic hair. Caregivers reported on father absence and demographics. This report focuses on the assessment of father absence at baseline and 2 years of follow-up for pubertal outcomes. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to test whether father absence at baseline predicted pubertal onset by follow-up visit 2. BMI was assumed to be in the causal pathway. Differences by ethnicity and income were examined.
Results: Income and ethnicity moderated associations between father absence and pubertal onset when adjusting for BMI. Father absence predicted earlier onset of breast development only in higher-income families and onset of pubic hair development only in higher-income African Americans families. BMI was not related to father absence and therefore was not in the causal pathway.
Conclusion: Among girls from higher-income families, father absence was linked to earlier puberty. This was particularly true for African Americans in terms of pubic hair development. These effects are not explained by body weight. Future research is needed to identify social and biophysiological mechanisms through which father absence, ethnicity, and income affect the pubertal onset.
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Rachel Lucas-Thompson, Wendy Goldberg & JoAnn Prause
Psychological Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
This meta-analysis of 69 studies (1,483 effect sizes) used random effects models to examine maternal employment during infancy/early childhood in relation to 2 major domains of child functioning: achievement and behavior problems. Analyses of studies that spanned 5 decades indicated that, with a few exceptions, early employment was not significantly associated with later achievement or internalizing/externalizing behaviors. The exceptions were for teacher ratings of achievement and internalizing behaviors: Employment was associated with higher achievement and fewer internalizing behaviors. Substantial heterogeneity among the effect sizes prompted examination of moderators. Sample-level moderator analyses pointed to the importance of socioeconomic and contextual variables, with early employment most beneficial when families were challenged by single parenthood or welfare status. Maternal employment during Years 2 and 3 was associated with higher achievement. Some moderator analyses indicated negative effects of employment for middle-class and 2-parent families and for very early employment (child's first year). Associations also differed depending on whether effect sizes were adjusted for contextual variables. Only 1 study-level moderator (sex of first author) was significant after adjusting for other moderators. The small effect size and primarily nonsignificant results for main effects of early maternal employment should allay concerns about mothers working when children are young. However, negative findings associated with employment during the child's first year are compatible with calls for more generous maternal leave policies. Results highlight the importance of social context for identifying under which conditions and for which subgroups early maternal employment is associated with positive or negative child outcomes.
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Mhairi Gibson & Rebecca Sear
Current Anthropology, October 2010, Pages 693-701
Abstract:
Why fertility declines is still a matter of intense debate. One theory proposes that fertility decline may be partly driven by shifts in parental investment strategies: couples reduce family size as demographic and economic changes cause investment in the quality of children to become more important than investment in the quantity of children. A key driver for this change is a shift from a subsistence-based to a skills-based economy, in which education enhances child quality. Evolutionary anthropologists have modified this theory to propose that parental investment will diverge during the demographic transition according to resource availability: couples with the greatest access to resources will invest more in quality than in quantity of children. Here we test the impact of resources on educational investment in two populations on the cusp of fertility decline: the patrilineal Arsi Oromo of Ethiopia and the matrilineal Chewa of Malawi. In both populations, increased wealth is associated with greater biases in the allocation of education between children. In richer families, early-born children are prioritized over later-born ones, although early-born sons are favored in the patrilineal population and early-born daughters in the matrilineal population. Poorer families invest less in their children's education but also discriminate less between children.
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Orphaned at Conception: The Uncanny Offspring of Embryos
Robert Sparrow
Bioethics, forthcoming
Abstract:
A number of advances in assisted reproduction have been greeted by the accusation that they would produce children ‘without parents'. In this paper I will argue that while to date these accusations have been false, there is a limited but important sense in which they would be true of children born of a reproductive technology that is now on the horizon. If our genetic parents are those individuals from whom we have inherited 50% of our genes, then, unlike in any other reproductive scenario, children who were conceived from gametes derived from stem cell lines derived from discarded IVF embryos would have no genetic parents! This paper defends this claim and investigates its ethical implications. I argue that there are reasons to think that the creation of such embryos might be morally superior to the existing alternatives in an important set of circumstances.