IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eurpop/v33y2017i2d10.1007_s10680-017-9424-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Family Dynamics and Child Outcomes: An Overview of Research and Open Questions

Author

Listed:
  • Juho Härkönen

    (Stockholm University)

  • Fabrizio Bernardi

    (European University Institute)

  • Diederik Boertien

    (Autonomous University of Barcelona)

Abstract

Previous research has documented that children who do not live with both biological parents fare somewhat worse on a variety of outcomes than those who do. In this article, which is the introduction to the Special Issue on “Family dynamics and children’s well-being and life chances in Europe,” we refine this picture by identifying variation in this conclusion depending on the family transitions and subpopulations studied. We start by discussing the general evidence accumulated for parental separation and ask whether the same picture emerges from research on other family transitions and structures. Subsequently, we review studies that have aimed to deal with endogeneity and discuss whether issues of causality challenge the general picture of family transitions lowering child well-being. Finally, we discuss whether previous evidence finds effects of family transitions on child outcomes to differ between children from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, and across countries and time-periods studied. Each of the subsequent articles in this Special Issue contributes to these issues. Two articles provide evidence on how several less often studied family forms relate to child outcomes in the European context. Two other articles in this Special Issue contribute by resolving several key questions in research on variation in the consequences of parental separation by socioeconomic and immigrant background, two areas of research that have produced conflicting results so far.

Suggested Citation

  • Juho Härkönen & Fabrizio Bernardi & Diederik Boertien, 2017. "Family Dynamics and Child Outcomes: An Overview of Research and Open Questions," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 163-184, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:33:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s10680-017-9424-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-017-9424-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10680-017-9424-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10680-017-9424-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henriette Engelhardt & Heike Trappe & Jaap Dronkers, 2002. "Differences in family policy and the intergenerational transmission of divorce: a comparison between the former East and West Germany," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2002-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Ariel Kalil & Magne Mogstad & Mari Rege & Mark Votruba, 2011. "Divorced Fathers’ Proximity and Children’s Long-Run Outcomes: Evidence From Norwegian Registry Data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(3), pages 1005-1027, August.
    3. Martin Kreidl & Martina Štípková & Barbora Hubatková, 2017. "Parental separation and children’s education in a comparative perspective: Does the burden disappear when separation is more common?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(3), pages 73-110.
    4. Jan Jonsson & Michael Gähler, 1997. "Family dissolution, family reconstitution, and children’s educational careers: Recent evidence for Sweden," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 34(2), pages 277-293, May.
    5. Jonas Radl & Leire Salazar & Héctor Cebolla-Boado, 2017. "Does Living in a Fatherless Household Compromise Educational Success? A Comparative Study of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 217-242, May.
    6. Andrew Cherlin, 1999. "Going to extremes: Family structure, children’s well-being, and social science," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(4), pages 421-428, November.
    7. John Ermisch & Marco Francesconi & David J. Pevalin, 2004. "Parental partnership and joblessness in childhood and their influence on young people's outcomes," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 167(1), pages 69-101, February.
    8. Jui-Chung Li & Lawrence Wu, 2008. "No trend in the intergenerational transmission of divorce," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(4), pages 875-883, November.
    9. Ribar, David C., 2004. "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies," IZA Discussion Papers 998, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Wendy Sigle-Rushton & John Hobcraft & Kathleen Kiernan, 2005. "Parental divorce and subsequent disadvantage: A cross-cohort comparison," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(3), pages 427-446, August.
    11. Eirik Evenhouse & Siobhan Reilly, 2004. "A Sibling Study of Stepchild Well-being," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(1).
    12. Anna Sanz‐de‐Galdeano & Daniela Vuri, 2007. "Parental Divorce and Students’ Performance: Evidence from Longitudinal Data," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(3), pages 321-338, June.
    13. Fabrizio Bernardi & Jonas Radl, 2014. "The long-term consequences of parental divorce for children’s educational attainment," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(61), pages 1653-1680.
    14. Michael Gähler & Eva-Lisa Palmtag, 2015. "Parental Divorce, Psychological Well-Being and Educational Attainment: Changed Experience, Unchanged Effect Among Swedes Born 1892–1991," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(2), pages 601-623, September.
    15. Matthijs Kalmijn & Anneke Loeve & Dorien Manting, 2007. "Income dynamics in couples and the dissolution of marriage and cohabitation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(1), pages 159-179, February.
    16. Jeylan Erman & Juho Härkönen, 2017. "Parental Separation and School Performance Among Children of Immigrant Mothers in Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 267-292, May.
    17. Wilfred Uunk, 2004. "The Economic Consequences of Divorce for Women in the European Union: The Impact of Welfare State Arrangements," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 20(3), pages 251-285, September.
    18. Fabrizio Bernardi & Diederik Boertien, 2017. "Explaining Conflicting Results in Research on the Heterogeneous Effects of Parental Separation on Children’s Educational Attainment According to Social Background," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 243-266, May.
    19. Lisa Gennetian, 2005. "One or two parents? Half or step siblings? The effect of family structure on young children's achievement," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 18(3), pages 415-436, September.
    20. Alison Aughinbaugh & Charles Pierret & Donna Rothstein, 2005. "The impact of family structure transitions on youth achievement: Evidence from the children of the NlSY79," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(3), pages 447-468, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Valerie K. Heintz-Martin & Alexandra N. Langmeyer, 2020. "Economic Situation, Financial Strain and Child Wellbeing in Stepfamilies and Single-Parent Families in Germany," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 238-254, June.
    2. Wiebke Schulz, 2022. "Do the consequences of parental separation for children’s educational success vary by parental education? The role of educational thresholds," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(28), pages 883-918.
    3. Marika Jalovaara & Gunnar Andersson, 2018. "Disparities in Children’s Family Experiences by Mother’s Socioeconomic Status: The Case of Finland," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(5), pages 751-768, October.
    4. Almudena Moreno Mínguez, 2020. "Children’s Relationships and Happiness: The Role of Family, Friends and the School in Four European Countries," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1859-1878, June.
    5. Trude Lappegård & Elizabeth Thomson, 2018. "Intergenerational Transmission of Multipartner Fertility," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2205-2228, December.
    6. Alessandro Nallo & Daniel Oesch, 2023. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Family Dissolution: How it Varies by Social Class Origin and Birth Cohort," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-33, December.
    7. Marcantonio Caltabiano & Silvia Meggiolaro & Valentina Tocchioni, 2023. "The impact of parental separation on the pattern of transition to adulthood in Italy," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2023_07, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    8. Laura Cuesta & Sarah Reynolds, 2023. "Does Couples’ Division of Labor Influence Union Dissolution? Evidence from Parents of Young Children in Chile," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 584-601, September.
    9. Diederik Boertien & Fabrizio Bernardi, 2019. "Same-Sex Parents and Children’s School Progress: An Association That Disappeared Over Time," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 477-501, April.
    10. Rodríguez Sánchez, Alejandra, 2019. "Family structure effects on U.S. children’s well-being? Re-examining the family instability hypothesis," OSF Preprints 84q56, Center for Open Science.
    11. Diederik Boertien & Juho Härkönen, 2018. "Why does women’s education stabilize marriages? The role of marital attraction and barriers to divorce," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(41), pages 1241-1276.
    12. Jing Zhang & Zongye Cai & Huamin Peng & Tom Emery, 2022. "Early Childhood Care Trends and Associations with Child Health Well-being in China: Evidence from the CHNS 1991 to 2011 Data," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 2789-2807, October.
    13. Raffaele Guetto & Fabrizio Bernardi & Francesca Zanasi, 2022. "Parental education, divorce, and children’s educational attainment: Evidence from a comparative analysis," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(3), pages 65-96.
    14. 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.
    15. Marco Tosi & Marco Albertini, 2019. "Does Children’s Union Dissolution Hurt Elderly Parents? Linked Lives, Divorce and Mental Health in Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(4), pages 695-717, October.
    16. Holm, Mathilde Lund & Fallesen, Peter & Heinesen, Eskil, 2023. "The effects of parental union dissolution on children’s test scores," SocArXiv p2qgk, Center for Open Science.
    17. Dahmann, Sarah C. & Kettlewell, Nathan & Lam, Jack, 2022. "Parental Separation and the Formation of Economic Preferences," IZA Discussion Papers 14993, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Juho H rk nen, 2017. "Diverging destinies in international perspective: Education, single motherhood, and child poverty," LIS Working papers 713, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    19. Sanna Kailaheimo-Lönnqvist & Marika Jalovaara & Mikko Myrskylä, 2023. "Parental separation and children’s education – changes over time?," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-036, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    20. Tomás Cano & Pablo Gracia, 2022. "The Gendered Effects of Divorce on Mothers’ and Fathers’ Time with Children and Children’s Developmental Activities: A Longitudinal Study," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1277-1313, December.
    21. Raffaele Guetto & Francesca Zanasi & Maria Carella, 2022. "Non-intact Families and Children’s Educational Outcomes: Comparing Native and Migrant Pupils," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1065-1094, December.
    22. Sven Alexander Brocker & Anja Steinbach & Lara Augustijn, 2024. "Parent-child Discrepancies in Reporting Children’s Mental Health: Do Physical Custody Arrangements in Post-separation Families Matter?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(1), pages 197-220, February.
    23. Raffaele Guetto & Maria Francesca Morabito & Elisa Benedetti & Sonia Cerrai & Daniele Vignoli, 2024. "When things do not change: non-intact families and adolescents'risks of substance use across 30 European countries and two decades," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2024_08, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    24. Miri Endeweld & Anat Herbst-Debby & Amit Kaplan, 2022. "Do the Privileged Always Win? Economic Consequences of Divorce by Income and Gender Groups," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 77-100, January.
    25. Jeylan Erman & Juho Härkönen, 2017. "Parental Separation and School Performance Among Children of Immigrant Mothers in Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 267-292, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chiara Pronzato & Arnstein Aassve, 2019. "Parental breakup and children’s development: the role of time and of post-separation conditions," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 67-87, March.
    2. Marcantonio Caltabiano & Silvia Meggiolaro & Valentina Tocchioni, 2023. "The impact of parental separation on the pattern of transition to adulthood in Italy," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2023_07, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    3. Letizia Mencarini & Silvia Pasqua & Agnese Romiti, 2014. "Children’s time use and family structure in Italy," CHILD Working Papers Series 27, Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics (CHILD) - CCA.
    4. Jonas Radl & Leire Salazar & Héctor Cebolla-Boado, 2017. "Does Living in a Fatherless Household Compromise Educational Success? A Comparative Study of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 217-242, May.
    5. Jeylan Erman & Juho Härkönen, 2017. "Parental Separation and School Performance Among Children of Immigrant Mothers in Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 267-292, May.
    6. Raffaele Guetto & Francesca Zanasi & Maria Carella, 2022. "Non-intact Families and Children’s Educational Outcomes: Comparing Native and Migrant Pupils," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1065-1094, December.
    7. David Blau & Wilbert Klaauw, 2008. "A demographic analysis of the family structure experiences of children in the United States," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 193-221, September.
    8. DAVID M. BLAU & WILBERT van der KLAAUW, 2013. "What Determines Family Structure?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(1), pages 579-604, January.
    9. Marco Francesconi & Stephen Jenkins & Thomas Siedler, 2010. "Childhood family structure and schooling outcomes: evidence for Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(3), pages 1073-1103, June.
    10. Pronzato, Chiara & Aassve,Arnstein, 2013. "Marital Breakup and Children's Behavioural Responses," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201339, University of Turin.
    11. Valerie K. Heintz-Martin & Alexandra N. Langmeyer, 2020. "Economic Situation, Financial Strain and Child Wellbeing in Stepfamilies and Single-Parent Families in Germany," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 238-254, June.
    12. Marco Tosi & Marco Albertini, 2019. "Does Children’s Union Dissolution Hurt Elderly Parents? Linked Lives, Divorce and Mental Health in Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(4), pages 695-717, October.
    13. Donna K. Ginther & Astrid L. Grasdal & Robert A. Pollak, 2019. "Fathers' Multiple-Partner Fertility and Children's Educational Outcomes," Working Papers 2019-062, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    14. Alessandro Nallo & Daniel Oesch, 2023. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Family Dissolution: How it Varies by Social Class Origin and Birth Cohort," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-33, December.
    15. Kieron J. Barclay & Martin Hällsten, 2019. "Socioeconomic variation in child educational and socioeconomic attainment after parental death in Sweden," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2019-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    16. Bram Hogendoorn, 2022. "Why do Socioeconomic Differences in Women’s Living Standards Converge After Union Dissolution?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(3), pages 577-622, August.
    17. Sanna Kailaheimo-Lönnqvist & Marika Jalovaara & Mikko Myrskylä, 2023. "Parental separation and children’s education – changes over time?," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-036, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    18. Shelly Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak & Jenna Stearns, 2016. "Family Inequality: Diverging Patterns in Marriage, Cohabitation, and Childbearing," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 79-102, Spring.
    19. Ferrer, Ana M. & Pan, Yazhuo, 2018. "Family structure and child cognitive outcomes: Evidence from Canadian longitudinal data," CLEF Working Paper Series 16, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    20. Liliya Leopold & Thomas Leopold, 2016. "Maternal Education, Divorce, and Changes in Economic Resources: Evidence from Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 836, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:33:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s10680-017-9424-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.