The Opioid Epidemic and Children’s Living Arrangements in the United States, 2000–2018

Abstract

Although the detrimental effects of the opioid epidemic on individuals’ health and well-being have been well documented, we know little about how it has affected the family contexts in which children live. We assess how the opioid epidemic, as measured by a rise in the opioid overdose death rate, has affected the rates at which children live in different family arrangements: two married parents, two cohabiting parents, single mother, single father, or another configuration. Our local fixed-effects models show that higher local overdose death rates are associated with fewer children living with two married parents and with an increase in children living in family structures that tend to be less stable, such as those led by cohabiting parents or a single parent. These changes in family arrangements have potential long-term implications for the well-being of future generations.