[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-01299948.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do children of the first marriage deter divorce?

Author

Listed:
  • Héctor Bellido

    (Universidad de Zaragoza = University of Zaragoza [Saragossa University] = Université de Saragosse)

  • José Alberto Molina

    (Universidad de Zaragoza = University of Zaragoza [Saragossa University] = Université de Saragosse)

  • Anne Solaz

    (INED - Institut national d'études démographiques)

  • Elena Stancanelli

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract
In terms of economics, individuals divorce if their expected gains from marriage fall short of their expected utility outside the current marriage, and children represent a marriage-specific type of investment, which generally increases the value of marriage for the spouses. However, children may also disrupt marital stability as they will induce dramatic changes into the household allocation of money and time. In particular, children conceived before or after first marriage may be valued differently by the spouses and this may lead to marital conflicts. It is difficult to assign a priori the direction of the effect of children on marriage stability, and causality may run either way, as couples who anticipate a separation are more likely to have fewer children than those who are happy together, while children born before first marriage may be associated with a lower marriage attachment of their parents. Here, we follow an empirical approach and take advantage of the richness of the data on pre-marital history from the 24 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth79, to estimate the effect of children conceived before or after first marriage on marital stability. We find a significant deterrent effect of young children conceived during first marriage to the likelihood of divorce, while children conceived before first marriage are found to have a disruptive effect on marital stability.

Suggested Citation

  • Héctor Bellido & José Alberto Molina & Anne Solaz & Elena Stancanelli, 2016. "Do children of the first marriage deter divorce?," Post-Print hal-01299948, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01299948
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2016.01.023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lundberg, Shelly & Pollak, Robert, 2013. "Cohabitation and the Uneven Retreat from Marriage in the U.S., 1950-2010," IZA Discussion Papers 7607, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Emilia Del Bono & John Ermisch & Marco Francesconi, 2012. "Intrafamily Resource Allocations: A Dynamic Structural Model of Birth Weight," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(3), pages 657-706.
    3. Jacobsen, Joyce P. & PearceIII, James Wishart & Rosenbloom, Joshua L., 2001. "The effects of child-bearing on women's marital status: using twin births as a natural experiment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 133-138, January.
    4. Gunnar Andersson, 1997. "The Impact of Children on Divorce Risks of Swedish Women," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 13(2), pages 109-145, June.
    5. Gordon B. Dahl & Enrico Moretti, 2008. "The Demand for Sons," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(4), pages 1085-1120.
    6. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1.
    7. John Ermisch & Chiara Pronzato, 2008. "Intra‐Household Allocation of Resources: Inferences from Non‐resident Fathers’ Child Support Payments," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(527), pages 347-362, March.
    8. Fiona Steele & Constantinos Kallis & Harvey Goldstein & Heather Joshi, 2005. "The relationship between childbearing and transitions from marriage and cohabitation in Britain," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(4), pages 647-673, November.
    9. Bellido, Héctor & Marcén, Miriam, 2014. "Divorce laws and fertility," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 56-70.
    10. C. Barnet-Verzat & A. Pailhé & A. Solaz, 2011. "Spending time together: the impact of children on couples’ leisure synchronization," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 465-486, December.
    11. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2007. "Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 27-52, Spring.
    12. Janet Currie & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1495-1532.
    13. Alders, Peter, 2005. "Human capital growth and destruction: the effect of fertility on skill obsolescence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 503-520, May.
    14. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2007. "Enhanced routines for instrumental variables/GMM estimation and testing," CERT Discussion Papers 0706, Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation, Heriot Watt University.
    15. Becker, Gary S & Landes, Elisabeth M & Michael, Robert T, 1977. "An Economic Analysis of Marital Instability," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(6), pages 1141-1187, December.
    16. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2005. "Why the Apple Doesn't Fall Far: Understanding Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 437-449, March.
    17. Michael Svarer & Mette Verner, 2008. "Do children stabilize relationships in Denmark?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 21(2), pages 395-417, April.
    18. Daniela VURI, 2001. "Fertility and Divorce," Economics Working Papers ECO2001/05, European University Institute.
    19. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2006. "Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: Divorce Laws and Family Distress," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(1), pages 267-288.
    20. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1980. "Testing the Quantity-Quality Fertility Model: The Use of Twins as a Natural Experiment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(1), pages 227-240, January.
    21. Simon Burgess & Carol Propper & Arnstein Aassve, 2003. "The role of income in marriage and divorce transitions among young Americans," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(3), pages 455-475, August.
    22. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2007. "Enhanced routines for instrumental variables/generalized method of moments estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(4), pages 465-506, December.
    23. William Axinn & Marin Clarkberg & Arland Thornton, 1994. "Family influences on family size preferences," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(1), pages 65-79, February.
    24. Almudena Sevilla-Sanz, 2010. "Household division of labor and cross-country differences in household formation rates," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(1), pages 225-249, January.
    25. Pamela Smock, 1993. "The economic costs of marital disruption for Young Women over the past two decades," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 30(3), pages 353-371, August.
    26. Cáceres-Delpiano, Julio & Giolito, Eugenio, 2008. "How Unilateral Divorce Affects Children," IZA Discussion Papers 3342, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    27. Lee Lillard & Linda Waite, 1993. "A joint model of marital childbearing and marital disruption," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 30(4), pages 653-681, November.
    28. Johnson, William R & Skinner, Jonathan, 1986. "Labor Supply and Marital Separation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(3), pages 455-469, June.
    29. Andrew Cherlin, 1977. "The effect of children on marital dissolution," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 14(3), pages 265-272, August.
    30. Alison L. Booth & Hiau Joo Kee, 2009. "Intergenerational Transmission of Fertility Patterns," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 71(2), pages 183-208, April.
    31. Leora Friedberg, 1998. "Did Unilateral Divorce Raise Divorce Rates? Evidence from Panel Data," NBER Working Papers 6398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. repec:mpr:mprres:7714 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Angrist, Joshua D & Evans, William N, 1998. "Children and Their Parents' Labor Supply: Evidence from Exogenous Variation in Family Size," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 450-477, June.
    34. Dana Rotz, "undated". "Why Have Divorce Rates Fallen? The Role of Women's Age at Marriage," Mathematica Policy Research Reports ed0498975f9b467b9858ee065, Mathematica Policy Research.
    35. Fanti, Luciano & Spataro, Luca, 2013. "On the relationship between fertility and public national debt," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 843-849.
    36. Vuri, Daniela, 2002. "Propensity Score Estimates of the Effect of Fertility on Marital Dissolution," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2002 180, Royal Economic Society.
    37. Justin Wolfers, 2006. "Did Unilateral Divorce Laws Raise Divorce Rates? A Reconciliation and New Results," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1802-1820, December.
    38. Hans Bloemen & Elena Stancanelli, 2015. "Toyboys or supergirls? An analysis of partners’ employment outcomes when she outearns him," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 501-530, September.
    39. John Ermisch, 2008. "Child support and non-resident fathers’ contact with their children," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 21(4), pages 827-853, October.
    40. Grossbard-Shechtman, Shoshana, 2003. "A consumer theory with competitive markets for work in marriage," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 609-645.
    41. Lau, Sau-Him Paul, 2014. "Fertility and mortality changes in an overlapping-generations model with realistic demography," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 512-521.
    42. Delia Furtado & Miriam Marcén & Almudena Sevilla, 2013. "Does Culture Affect Divorce? Evidence From European Immigrants in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(3), pages 1013-1038, June.
    43. Bielecki, Marcin & Goraus, Karolina & Hagemejer, Jan & Tyrowicz, Joanna, 2016. "Decreasing fertility vs increasing longevity: Raising the retirement age in the context of ageing processes," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PA), pages 125-143.
    44. Shelly Lundberg & Elaina Rose, 2003. "Child gender and the transition to marriage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(2), pages 333-349, May.
    45. repec:hal:pseose:hal-00966804 is not listed on IDEAS
    46. Shelly Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak, 2014. "Cohabitation and the Uneven Retreat from Marriage in the United States, 1950–2010," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital in History: The American Record, pages 241-272, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    47. Helen Koo & Barbara Janowitz, 1983. "Interrelationships between fertility and marital dissolution: Results of a simultaneous logit model," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 20(2), pages 129-145, May.
    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. Hippolyte d'Albis & Karina Doorley & Elena Stancanelli, 2021. "Older mothers' employment and marriage stability when the nest is empty," PSE Working Papers halshs-03203063, HAL.
    2. Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio & Molina, Jose Alberto, 2017. "The Substitution Effect and the Profit Function in Consumption: expressions from the Marshallian, Hicksian, and Frischian demand functions," MPRA Paper 82249, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Ferrando-Latorre, Sandra, 2017. "Risky consumption and intergenerational mobility: a research program in a family context," MPRA Paper 79777, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Bellido, Héctor & Marcén, Miriam, 2020. "On the relationship between body mass index and marital dissolution," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 326-340.
    5. Massimiliano Bratti & Simona Fiore & Mariapia Mendola, 2020. "The impact of family size and sibling structure on the great Mexico–USA migration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 483-529, April.
    6. González-Val, Rafael & Marcén, Miriam, 2018. "Unemployment and Marital Breakdown: The Spanish Case," GLO Discussion Paper Series 220, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. O’Leary, Nigel & Li, Ian W. & Gupta, Prashant & Blackaby, David, 2020. "Wellbeing trajectories around life events in Australia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 499-509.
    8. Héctor Bellido & Miriam Marcén, 2021. "Will you marry me? It depends (on the business cycle)," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 551-579, June.
    9. Georgios Mavropoulos & Theodore Panagiotidis, 2023. "The role of relative income in the share of children born out-of-wedlock in the USA," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 1105-1120, March.
    10. García, Lucia & Molina, José Alberto, 2017. "The household structure: recent international evolution," MPRA Paper 82049, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. García, Lucia, 2018. "Inter-generational and intra-generational transfers: international evidence," MPRA Paper 83986, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Delia Furtado & Miriam Marcén & Almudena Sevilla, 2013. "Does Culture Affect Divorce? Evidence From European Immigrants in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(3), pages 1013-1038, June.
    2. Bellido, Héctor & Marcén, Miriam, 2016. "On the relationship between BMI and marital dissolution," MPRA Paper 73868, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Martin Halla, 2013. "The Effect Of Joint Custody On Family Outcomes," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 278-315, April.
    4. Almudena Sevilla-Sanz & Delia Furtado and Miriam Marcen, 2010. "Does Culture Affect Divorce Decisions? Evidence from European Immigrants in the US," Economics Series Working Papers 495, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    5. Michelle Sheran Sylvester, 2007. "The Career and Family Choices of Women: A Dynamic Analysis of Labor Force Participation, Schooling, Marriage and Fertility Decisions," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 10(3), pages 367-399, July.
    6. Lorenzo Todesco, 2011. "A Matter of Number, Age or Marriage? Children and Marital Dissolution in Italy," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(2), pages 313-332, April.
    7. González, Libertad & Viitanen, Tarja K., 2009. "The effect of divorce laws on divorce rates in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 127-138, February.
    8. Daniel Avdic & Arizo Karimi, 2018. "Modern Family? Paternity Leave and Marital Stability," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 283-307, October.
    9. Sanna Huikari & Marko Korhonen & Mikko Puhakka, 2016. "’Til booze do us part: alcohol consumption and marital dissolution," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 831-852, September.
    10. Bargain, Olivier & González, Libertad & Keane, Claire & Özcan, Berkay, 2012. "Female labor supply and divorce: New evidence from Ireland," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1675-1691.
    11. Bellido, Héctor & Marcén, Miriam, 2020. "On the relationship between body mass index and marital dissolution," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 326-340.
    12. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2007. "Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 27-52, Spring.
    13. González-Val, Rafael & Marcén, Miriam, 2009. "Breaks in the Breaks: A Time-Series Analysis of Divorce Rates," MPRA Paper 14851, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Thorsten Kneip & Gerrit Bauer & Steffen Reinhold, 2014. "Direct and Indirect Effects of Unilateral Divorce Law on Marital Stability," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(6), pages 2103-2126, December.
    15. Bellido, Héctor & Marcén, Miriam, 2014. "Divorce laws and fertility," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 56-70.
    16. Elizabeth Horner, 2014. "Continued Pursuit of Happily Ever After: Low Barriers to Divorce and Happiness," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 228-240, June.
    17. Marcén, Miriam & Molina, José Alberto & Morales, Marina, 2018. "The effect of culture on the fertility decisions of immigrant women in the United States," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 15-28.
    18. Li, Li & Mak, Eric, 2016. "Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage: The Catalyst Effect of Unilateral Divorce," MPRA Paper 83330, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Chigavazira, Abraham & Fisher, Hayley & Robinson, Tim & Zhu, Anna, 2019. "The Consequences of Extending Equitable Property Division Divorce Laws to Cohabitants," Working Papers 2019-02, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    20. Wolfgang Frimmel & Martin Halla & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2016. "How Does Parental Divorce Affect Children's Long-term Outcomes?," Working Papers 2016-13, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.

    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:hal:journl:hal-01299948. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.