Effects of Child Health on Parents Relationship Status

Working Paper: NBER ID: w9610

Authors: nancy e reichman; hope corman; kelly noonan

Abstract: We use data from the national longitudinal Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to estimate the effect of poor child health on father presence. We look at whether parents live in the same household 12-18 months after the child's birth and also at how their relationships changed along a continuum (married, cohabiting, romantically involved, friends, or not involved) during the same period. We find that having an infant in poor health reduces the likelihood that parents will live together and increases the likelihood that they will become less committed to their relationship, particularly among parents with low socioeconomic status.

Keywords: No keywords provided

JEL Codes: j12; i12


Causal Claims Network Graph

Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.


Causal Claims

CauseEffect
poor child health (I14)parental cohabitation status (J12)
poor child health (I14)relationship commitment (L14)
poor child health (I14)parental relationship dynamics (J12)

Back to index