IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v88y2013icp30-38.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The importance of children's ADHD for parents' relationship stability and labor supply

Author

Listed:
  • Kvist, Anette Primdal
  • Nielsen, Helena Skyt
  • Simonsen, Marianne

Abstract

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have much worse long-term outcomes than other children. This paper uses Danish register-based data on children born from 1990 to 1997 to investigate the significance of children's ADHD for parents' outcomes. We observe 172,299 pairs of parents from 1990 to 2007 of which 2457 have a firstborn child diagnosed with ADHD and 169,842 have a firstborn child without ADHD. Ten years after the birth of the child, parents of children diagnosed with ADHD have a 75% higher probability of having dissolved their relationship and a 7–13% lower labor supply. Parents of children with ADHD are, however, particularly disadvantaged in terms of socioeconomic background and mental health. We explain about half of the gaps in partnership stability and labor supply when these factors are taken into consideration, but a statistically and economically significant gap remains to be explained. Additionally, we find that the receipt of a diagnosis to some extent moderates the influence of underlying ADHD on partnership stability. Still, our study concludes that poor child health in terms of ADHD reduces parental socioeconomic status (SES) by lowering their labor supply (and earnings) and reducing relationship stability.

Suggested Citation

  • Kvist, Anette Primdal & Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne, 2013. "The importance of children's ADHD for parents' relationship stability and labor supply," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 30-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:88:y:2013:i:c:p:30-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.04.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953613002128
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.04.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile, 2003. "Socioeconomic Status and Child Health: Why Is the Relationship Stronger for Older Children?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1813-1823, December.
    2. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    3. Hope Corman & Robert Kaestner, 1992. "The effects of child health on marital status and family structure," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 29(3), pages 389-408, August.
    4. Currie, Janet & Stabile, Mark, 2006. "Child mental health and human capital accumulation: The case of ADHD," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 1094-1118, November.
    5. Mette Deding & Trine Filges, 2010. "Geographical Mobility Of Danish Dual‐Earner Couples—The Relationship Between Change Of Job And Change Of Residence," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 615-634, May.
    6. Fletcher, Jason & Wolfe, Barbara, 2008. "Child mental health and human capital accumulation: The case of ADHD revisited," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 794-800, May.
    7. Nancy Reichman & Hope Corman & Kelly Noonan, 2004. "Effects of child health on parents’ relationship status," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(3), pages 569-584, August.
    8. Hope Corman & Kelly Noonan & Nancy E. Reichman, 2005. "Mother's Labor Supply in Fragile Families: The Role of Child Health," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 601-616, Fall.
    9. Elizabeth T. Powers, 2003. "Children’s Health and Maternal Work Activity: Estimates under Alternative Disability Definitions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 38(3).
    10. Fiona Steele & Wendy Sigle-Rushton & Øystein Kravdal, 2009. "Consequences of family disruption on children’s educational outcomes in norway," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(3), pages 553-574, August.
    11. Evans, William N. & Morrill, Melinda S. & Parente, Stephen T., 2010. "Measuring inappropriate medical diagnosis and treatment in survey data: The case of ADHD among school-age children," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 657-673, September.
    12. Dalsgaard, Søren & Humlum, Maria Knoth & Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne, 2012. "Relative standards in ADHD diagnoses: The role of specialist behavior," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 663-665.
    13. Martin Salm & Daniel Schunk, 2012. "The Relationship Between Child Health, Developmental Gaps, And Parental Education: Evidence From Administrative Data," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(6), pages 1425-1449, December.
    14. Wasi, Nada & den Berg, Bernard van & Buchmueller, Thomas C., 2012. "Heterogeneous effects of child disability on maternal labor supply: Evidence from the 2000 US Census," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 139-154.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eriksen, Tine L. Mundbjerg & Gaulke, Amanda & Skipper, Niels & Svensson, Jannet, 2021. "The impact of childhood health shocks on parental labor supply," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Peter Burton & Kelly Chen & Lynn Lethbridge & Shelley Phipps, 2017. "Child health and parental paid work," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 597-620, June.
    3. Patrick Richard, 2016. "The Burden of Medical Debt Faced by Households with Dependent Children in the United States: Implications for the Affordable Care Act of 2010," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 212-225, June.
    4. Breining, Sanni Nørgaard, 2014. "The presence of ADHD: Spillovers between siblings," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 469-473.
    5. Derek Asuman & Charles Godfred Ackah & Frank Agyire-Tettey, 2021. "Disability and Household Welfare in Ghana: Costs and Correlates," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 633-649, December.
    6. Dalsgaard, Søren & Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne, 2014. "Consequences of ADHD medication use for children's outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 137-151.
    7. Chorniy, Anna, 2016. "Sex, Drugs, and ADHD: The Effects of ADHD Pharmacological Treatment on Teens' Risky Behaviors," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145766, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. Francisca Vargas Lopes & Pieter Bakx & Sam Harper & Bastian Ravesteijn & Tom Van Ourti, 2022. "The effects of supported housing for individuals with mental disorders," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(S2), pages 115-133, October.
    9. Peter Fallesen & Richard Breen, 2016. "Temporary Life Changes and the Timing of Divorce," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(5), pages 1377-1398, October.
    10. repec:iae:iaewps:wp2016n6 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Abigail Emma Russell & Tamsin Ford & Ginny Russell, 2015. "Socioeconomic Associations with ADHD: Findings from a Mediation Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Øyfrid Larsen Moen & Birgitta Hedelin & Marie Louise Hall-Lord, 2016. "Family Functioning, Psychological Distress, and Well-Being in Parents with a Child Having ADHD," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(1), pages 21582440156, January.
    13. Chorniy, Anna & Kitashima, Leah, 2016. "Sex, drugs, and ADHD: The effects of ADHD pharmacological treatment on teens' risky behaviors," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 87-105.
    14. Mahmud, Mir, 2016. "Child Disability, Children’s Time with Mother and Maternal Employment," MPRA Paper 72816, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Lovén, Ida, 2017. "Labor market consequences of growing up with a sibling with type 1-diabetes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1-10.
    16. Zhou, Weina & Wang, Shun, 2023. "Early childhood health shocks, classroom environment, and social-emotional outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    17. Anna Zhu, 2016. "Maternal Employment Trajectories and Caring for an Infant or Toddler with a Disability," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2016n06, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    18. Fallesen, Peter, 2016. "Downward spiral: The impact of out-of-home placement on paternal welfare dependency," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 45-55.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anette Primdal Kvist & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Marianne Simonsen, 2011. "The effects of Children’s ADHD on Parents’ Relationship Dissolution and Labor Supply," Economics Working Papers 2011-14, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    2. Kelly Bedard & Allison Witman, 2020. "Family structure and the gender gap in ADHD," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1101-1129, December.
    3. Dalsgaard, Søren & Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne, 2014. "Consequences of ADHD medication use for children's outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 137-151.
    4. Bertoni, M.; & Marin-Lopez, B.A.; & Sanz-de-Galdeano, A.;, 2023. "Subjective Gender-Based Patterns in ADHD Diagnosis," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 23/17, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    5. Eriksen, Tine L. Mundbjerg & Gaulke, Amanda & Skipper, Niels & Svensson, Jannet, 2021. "The impact of childhood health shocks on parental labor supply," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Zeng-Hua Lu & Alec Zuo, 2017. "Child disability, welfare payments, marital status and mothers’ labor supply: Evidence from Australia," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1339769-133, January.
    7. Nancy E. Reichman & Hope Corman & Kelly Noonan, 2006. "Effects of Child Health on Sources of Public Support," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(1), pages 136-156, July.
    8. Vikesh Amin & Jere R. Behrman & Jason M. Fletcher & Carlos A. Flores & Alfonso Flores‐Lagunes & Hans‐Peter Kohler, 2021. "Genetic risks, adolescent health, and schooling attainment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(11), pages 2905-2920, November.
    9. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile & Phongsack Manivong & Leslie L. Roos, 2010. "Child Health and Young Adult Outcomes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(3).
    10. Jason M. Fletcher, 2014. "The Effects Of Childhood Adhd On Adult Labor Market Outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(2), pages 159-181, February.
    11. Ahammer, Alexander & Glogowsky, Ulrich & Halla, Martin & Hener, Timo, 2023. "The Parenthood Penalty in Mental Health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark," IZA Discussion Papers 16459, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Jill Furzer & Elizabeth Dhuey & Audrey Laporte, 2022. "ADHD misdiagnosis: Causes and mitigators," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(9), pages 1926-1953, September.
    13. Jason Fletcher & Nicole L. Hair & Barbara L. Wolfe, 2012. "Am I my Brother's Keeper? Sibling Spillover Effects: The Case of Developmental Disabilities and Externalizing Behavior," NBER Working Papers 18279, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Zeng‐Hua Lu & Alec Zuo, 2010. "Effects Of A Child'S Disability On Affected Female'S Labour Supply In Australia," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 222-240, September.
    15. Averett, Susan L. & Wang, Yang, 2015. "The Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Children's Health, Quality of Home Environment, and Non-Cognitive Skills," IZA Discussion Papers 9173, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    17. Johnston, David W. & Schurer, Stefanie & Shields, Michael A., 2011. "Evidence on the Long Shadow of Poor Mental Health across Three Generations," IZA Discussion Papers 6014, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Manuel Flores Mallo & Barbara L. Wolfe, 2020. "The Influence of Early Life Health Conditions on Life Course Health," NBER Working Papers 27174, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2020. "Shedding light on maternal education and child health in developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    20. Lefebvre, Pierre, 2006. "Le gradient santé / revenu familial des nouveau-nés québécois de 1998 après quatre ans : faible ou inexistant?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 82(4), pages 523-595, décembre.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:88:y:2013:i:c:p:30-38. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.