Unhealthy Circumstances? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Health of Children in Cohabiting and Separated Families

Abstract

Families produce health, but changing family structures are also held responsible for negative health outcomes in today’s societies. In this paper we analyse how the health of young children in Germany may change when parents separate. Data from the GSOEP show that children living in cohabiting families are not generally more healthy than children with separated parents. In fact, the risk to suffer from health disorders is significantly lower among children whose mothers have separated than among children whose mothers are married. However, children with married mothers have a higher birth weight and less often a BMI that deviates from the norm than children whose mothers are divorced. In a longitudinal analysis we control for health selection and find a negative causal impact of a separation or divorce on pre-clinical health aspects of young children. We also find that the mental and intellectual capacities of mothers, not their financial situation, can help to buffer the negative health impact of a separation in Germany. Against the background of rising numbers of single mothers we finally discuss the current and future implications of these findings.