Effects of Child Health on Parents' Relationship Status

Publication Date:

Publisher: Project MUSE

Author(s): N.E. Reichman; H. Corman; K. Noonan

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

In comparison to children born to married parents, children whose parents are unmarried at their birth are more likely to experience poverty as well as health, behavior and school problems as they grow up. While research indicates that low socioeconomic status in early childhood can negatively affect a child's future health and educational outcomes - leading to continued low socioeconomic status over generations - little is known about the effect of a child's health on family socioeconomic status. Using data on 3,920 cases from the national longitudinal Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, researchers studied the effect of a child's health at birth on parents' relationship status one year to 18 months later. Results indicate that having a child with a serious health problem at birth reduced the probability that the parents would be married or cohabiting at follow-up by 9 to 10 percentage points and the probability that the parents would maintain or increase their level of relationship commitment by 6 percentage points. The authors conclude that poor child health may affect parental relationships and paternal presence, and thus parental income, early in a child's life, with implications for the child's long-term health and economic status.