And what about the kids? Divorce, child support, and childhood health investment

• In Event: Family Law, Family Structure, and Health and Well-Being

Abstract

Children of divorce are known to achieve worse health outcomes in childhood and through adulthood. However, a dearth of detailed longitudinal data in the US has thus far prevented an investigation of the short-run effects of parental divorce on investment in children's health, which might provide insight into the long-term adverse health outcomes in affected children. In this paper, I use a unique set of linked administrative records to estimate the effect of parental divorce on investment in children's preventive health care. I find that children of divorce fall behind on preventive care in the pre-divorce period. However, preventive care increases markedly after divorce; there is a 6.5% increase in the likelihood of having a well-visit after divorce and a 10% increase in vaccination receipt. Extensive mechanism analyses suggest that this compensatory response to divorce is underpinned by child support establishment, the low levels of pre-divorce investment, and a probable shift in post-divorce parental preferences. The results suggest that the parental response to divorce works in an attempt to counteract the adverse health effects of divorce on children, which has important implications for our understanding of these children's long-term health outcomes.

Author

• Owen Michael Fleming, Wayne State University
  Presenting Author