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Does Single Parenthood Increase the Probability of Teenage Promiscuity, Drug Use, and Crime? Evidence from Divorce Law Changes

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Author Info
Heather Antecol (Claremont McKenna College)
Kelly Bedard (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Eric Helland (Claremont-Mckenna College)

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Abstract

It has long since been established that children raised by single parents are more likely to become sexually active, commit illegal acts, and use illegal drugs at young ages. What has not been determined is whether or not there is a causal effect associated with the disintegration of the family. Would these children have been more likely to participate in 'deviant' behavior even if their family structure had remained intact? This study provides evidence in favor of a negative causal impact of single-parent status. Using state-level divorce law changes to instrument for years that the biological father lives in the household, we find that youth who spend part of their childhood/youth living in a household that does not include their biological father are more likely to smoke regularly, become sexually active, and be convicted of a crime.

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Paper provided by Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara in its series University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series with number 8-02.

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Date of creation: 01 Aug 2001
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Handle: RePEc:cdl:ucsbec:8-02

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Related research
Keywords: Single Parenthood; Probability of Teenage Promiscuity; Drug Use; Divorce Law Changes;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  4. Jonathan Gruber, 2000. "Is Making Divorce Easier Bad for Children? The Long Run Implications of Unilateral Divorce," NBER Working Papers 7968, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Leora Friedberg, 1998. "Did Unilateral Divorce Raise Divorce Rates? Evidence from Panel Data," NBER Working Papers 6398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Anne Case & I-Fen Lin & Sara McLanahan, 2000. "Understanding Child Support Trends: Economic, Demographic, and Political Contributions," NBER Working Papers 8056, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Corak, Miles, 2001. "Death and Divorce: The Long-Term Consequences of Parental Loss on Adolescents," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(3), pages 682-715, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Newey, Whitney K., 1987. "Efficient estimation of limited dependent variable models with endogenous explanatory variables," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 231-250, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. William Comanor & Llad Phillips, 1998. "The Impact of Income and Family Structure on Delinquency," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series 7-95R, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara. [Downloadable!]
  16. Gary Painter & David Levine, 1999. "Family Structure and Youths' Outcomes: Which Correlations are Causal?," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series 1001, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
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  1. William S. Comanor & Llad Phillips, 2002. "The Impact of Income and Family Structure on Delinquency," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 0, pages 209-232, November. [Downloadable!]
  2. Donna K. Ginther & Robert A. Pollak, 2003. "Does Family Structure Affect Children's Educational Outcomes?," NBER Working Papers 9628, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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