Why Does Parental Divorce Lower Children's Educational Attainment? A Causal Mediation Analysis.

ABSTRACT: Mechanisms explaining the negative effects of parental divorce on children's attainment have long been conjectured and assessed. Yet few studies of parental divorce have carefully attended to the assumptions and methods necessary to estimate causal mediation effects. Applying a causal framework to linked U.S. panel data, we assess the degree to which parental divorce limits children's education among whites and nonwhites and whether observed lower levels of educational attainment are explained by postdivorce family conditions and children's skills. Our analyses yield three key findings. First, the negative effect of divorce on educational attainment, particularly college, is substantial for white children; by contrast, divorce does not lower the educational attainment of nonwhite children.

SUBMITTER: Brand JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6559749 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature