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Do Children Carry the Weight of Divorce?

Author

Listed:
  • Alice Goisis

    (London School of Economics
    Max Plank Institute for Demographic Research
    University College London)

  • Berkay Özcan

    (London School of Economics)

  • Philippe Van Kerm

    (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research and University of Luxembourg)

Abstract

Relatively few studies have examined the physical health of children who experience parental separation. The few studies on this topic have largely focused on the United States and have used cross-sectional designs. Our study investigates the relationship between parental separation and children’s body mass index (BMI) and overweight/obesity risk using the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Treating parental separation as a process, we analyze variations in children’s physical health before and after the date of their parents’ separation in order to capture potential anticipation, adaptation, delayed, or cumulative effects. We estimate fixed-effects models to account for the potential correlation between children’s physical health and unobserved factors associated with parental separation, such as socioeconomic background and other time-invariant parental characteristics. We find no evidence of statistically significant anticipation effects in the build-up to parental separation or of statistically significant changes in children’s physical health immediately after separation. However, our results show that in the longer term, the BMI of children whose parents separate significantly deviates from the BMI of children from intact families. Furthermore, this association is especially strong for separations that occur when children are under age 6.

Suggested Citation

  • Alice Goisis & Berkay Özcan & Philippe Van Kerm, 2019. "Do Children Carry the Weight of Divorce?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(3), pages 785-811, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:56:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s13524-019-00784-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-019-00784-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Hélène Le Forner, 2023. "Parents' Separation: What is the Effect on Parents' and Children's Time Investments?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 85(4), pages 718-754, August.
    2. Tosi, Marco & van den Broek, Thijs, 2020. "Gray divorce and mental health in the United Kingdom," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).

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