One or two parents? Half or step siblings? The effect of family structure on young children's achievement

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Do children who live with both biological parents fare better than children in other types of family structures? Does the presence of step or half-siblings affect child well-being? This study examines the effect of family structure on young children's achievement addressing two sources of potential bias: (1) misclassification of blended families and (2) the omission of within-family and individual time-invariant unobserved characteristics. The results show that family structure, when defined using traditional classifications, has little effect on young children's achievement test scores. When the definition of family type is expanded, living in a blended family and living in some types of single mother families, appears to have a small, unfavorable relationship with children's achievement.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)415-436
Number of pages22
JournalJournal of Population Economics
Volume18
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2005

Keywords

  • Children
  • Family structure

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Demography
  • Economics and Econometrics

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