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The Rising Educational Penalties of Parental Divorce Across Generations

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  • Hertegård, Edvin

    (Swedish Institute for Social Research)

Abstract

Divorce rates have risen markedly since the mid-20th century, yet our understanding of how this shift impacts children remains limited. This study investigates how the effect of parental divorce on educational attainment has changed across generations for cohorts born between 1951 and 1999. Leveraging detailed Swedish register data and employing sibling fixed effects estimations, I find that experiencing divorce during childhood is associated with a decrease in the likelihood of graduating from high school and attending university. These adverse effects have intensified significantly for cohorts born from the mid-1970s and onward, contrasting with weaker or insignificant effects for children born in the 1950s and 1960s. An analysis of mechanisms rules out several key potential reasons and provides suggestive evidence that the intensified effects stem from a shift in divorce patterns, with divorces increasingly occurring in families with higher marriage quality, making divorce more detrimental on average.

Suggested Citation

  • Hertegård, Edvin, 2025. "The Rising Educational Penalties of Parental Divorce Across Generations," SOFI Working Papers in Labour Economics 3/2025, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofile:2025_003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Betsey Stevenson, 2007. "The Impact of Divorce Laws on Marriage-Specific Capital," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(1), pages 75-94.
    2. Nunley, John M. & Seals Jr., Richard Alan, 2011. "Child-custody reform, marital investment in children, and the labor supply of married mothers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 14-24, January.
    3. Frimmel, Wolfgang & Halla, Martin & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2024. "How does parental divorce affect children’s long-term outcomes?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    4. Emilia Del Bono & Marco Francesconi & Yvonne Kelly & Amanda Sacker, 2016. "Early Maternal Time Investment and Early Child Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(596), pages 96-135, October.
    5. Emilia Del Bono & Marco Francesconi & Yvonne Kelly & Amanda Sacker, 2016. "Early Maternal Time Investment and Early Child Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(596), pages 96-135, October.
    6. 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.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    parental divorce; family behavior; human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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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