When
Where
Andrew Johnston, Assistant Professor, Economics and Business Management, UC Merced
Divorce, Family Arrangement, and Children's Adult Outcomes (with Maggie Jones and Nolan Pope)
Abstract: We examine U.S. tax and Census records to understand the impacts of divorce on family arrangements and children's outcomes. Following a divorce, we observe parents separating, a decrease in household income, increased work hours for mothers, elevated moving rates, and relocation to economically challenged neighborhoods with lower upward mobility. Panel data reveals a significant rise in teen births and mortality among children at the time of parental divorce. By comparing siblings with different exposure to divorce within the same family, we find that parental divorce during childhood leads to decreased adult earnings and college attendance and increased incarceration rates for affected children. Changes in household