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The importance of children's ADHD for parents' relationship stability and labor supply

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  • Kvist, Anette Primdal
  • Nielsen, Helena Skyt
  • Simonsen, Marianne

Abstract

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have much worse long-term outcomes than other children. This paper uses Danish register-based data on children born from 1990 to 1997 to investigate the significance of children's ADHD for parents' outcomes. We observe 172,299 pairs of parents from 1990 to 2007 of which 2457 have a firstborn child diagnosed with ADHD and 169,842 have a firstborn child without ADHD. Ten years after the birth of the child, parents of children diagnosed with ADHD have a 75% higher probability of having dissolved their relationship and a 7–13% lower labor supply. Parents of children with ADHD are, however, particularly disadvantaged in terms of socioeconomic background and mental health. We explain about half of the gaps in partnership stability and labor supply when these factors are taken into consideration, but a statistically and economically significant gap remains to be explained. Additionally, we find that the receipt of a diagnosis to some extent moderates the influence of underlying ADHD on partnership stability. Still, our study concludes that poor child health in terms of ADHD reduces parental socioeconomic status (SES) by lowering their labor supply (and earnings) and reducing relationship stability.

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  • Kvist, Anette Primdal & Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne, 2013. "The importance of children's ADHD for parents' relationship stability and labor supply," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 30-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:88:y:2013:i:c:p:30-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.04.001
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    3. Patrick Richard, 2016. "The Burden of Medical Debt Faced by Households with Dependent Children in the United States: Implications for the Affordable Care Act of 2010," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 212-225, June.
    4. Breining, Sanni Nørgaard, 2014. "The presence of ADHD: Spillovers between siblings," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 469-473.
    5. Derek Asuman & Charles Godfred Ackah & Frank Agyire-Tettey, 2021. "Disability and Household Welfare in Ghana: Costs and Correlates," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 633-649, December.
    6. Dalsgaard, Søren & Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne, 2014. "Consequences of ADHD medication use for children's outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 137-151.
    7. Chorniy, Anna, 2016. "Sex, Drugs, and ADHD: The Effects of ADHD Pharmacological Treatment on Teens' Risky Behaviors," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145766, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. Francisca Vargas Lopes & Pieter Bakx & Sam Harper & Bastian Ravesteijn & Tom Van Ourti, 2022. "The effects of supported housing for individuals with mental disorders," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(S2), pages 115-133, October.
    9. Peter Fallesen & Richard Breen, 2016. "Temporary Life Changes and the Timing of Divorce," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(5), pages 1377-1398, October.
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    11. Abigail Emma Russell & Tamsin Ford & Ginny Russell, 2015. "Socioeconomic Associations with ADHD: Findings from a Mediation Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Øyfrid Larsen Moen & Birgitta Hedelin & Marie Louise Hall-Lord, 2016. "Family Functioning, Psychological Distress, and Well-Being in Parents with a Child Having ADHD," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(1), pages 21582440156, January.
    13. Chorniy, Anna & Kitashima, Leah, 2016. "Sex, drugs, and ADHD: The effects of ADHD pharmacological treatment on teens' risky behaviors," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 87-105.
    14. Mahmud, Mir, 2016. "Child Disability, Children’s Time with Mother and Maternal Employment," MPRA Paper 72816, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Lovén, Ida, 2017. "Labor market consequences of growing up with a sibling with type 1-diabetes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1-10.
    16. Zhou, Weina & Wang, Shun, 2023. "Early childhood health shocks, classroom environment, and social-emotional outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    17. Anna Zhu, 2016. "Maternal Employment Trajectories and Caring for an Infant or Toddler with a Disability," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2016n06, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    18. Fallesen, Peter, 2016. "Downward spiral: The impact of out-of-home placement on paternal welfare dependency," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 45-55.

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