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Divorce Law Reform, Family Stability, and Children’s Long-Term Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Hertegård, Edvin

    (Swedish Institute for Social Research)

Abstract

While divorce laws are known to influence family behavior, empirical evidence of their effects on children remains scarce. I shed more light on this by evaluating a 6-month parental reconsideration period for divorce, which was implemented during the Swedish divorce law reform of 1974. I exploit quasi-experimental policy variation and population-wide register data on 1.17 million Swedish children born 1952–1964 to evaluate the implications of family stability on children’s long-term human capital outcomes. I find that families with more years of exposure to this divorce restriction are 18.8% less likely to divorce. The children with greater exposure are also 1.8% more likely to graduate from upper secondary school and exhibit higher rates of marriage and lower rates of divorce in adulthood. The findings highlight a trade-off between parental freedom of choice related to divorce and externalities on children’s outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Hertegård, Edvin, 2024. "Divorce Law Reform, Family Stability, and Children’s Long-Term Outcomes," SOFI Working Papers in Labour Economics 1/2025, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofile:2025_001
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    divorce restriction; divorce law reform; children’s outcomes; family behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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