Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-2012
Publication Title
Families, Relationships and Societies
Abstract
This study exploits data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study of a diverse sample of children from 20 cities in the United States (N = 3,676), to examine how cognitive, behavioural and health outcomes of five-year-old children differ according to their family structure and family stability. We define three models: one that measures family structure at birth only, a second that measures current family structure at year five conditional on family structure at birth, and a third that measures changes in family structure from birth to age five. We find that while family structure has persistent links to early child outcomes, the effects are significantly altered by stability of the family structure over time. These findings remain robust even after addressing selection.
Keywords
Behavioural problems, Child health, Cognitive ability, Family stability, Family structure
Volume
1
Issue
1
First Page
43
Last Page
61
DOI
10.1332/204674312X633153
ISSN
20467435
Recommended Citation
Craigie, Terry Ann L.; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; and Waldfogel, Jane, "Family Structure, Family Stability and Outcomes of Five-year-old Children" (2012). Economics: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/eco_facpubs/70
Comments
Peer reviewed accepted manuscript.