Funded research

Lawrence M. Berger, Katherine A. Magnuson

Transitions in Family Structure and Children's Wellbeing

Description

A considerable body of research has explored associations between marital dissolution, growing up in a single-parent family, and child well-being. Although recent research suggests that about 30 percent of children will spend some time in stepfamilies (Bumpass, Raley, and Sweet, 1995), the effects of maternal re-partnering on children's wellbeing have received much less scrutiny. To address this gap, this study will examine associations between family structure transitions, with a specific focus on maternal re-partnering, and children's cognitive and behavioral development. Specifically, we propose to use longitudinal data on about 2,700 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) and Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) to estimate the effects of family structure transitions on changes in children's achievement and behavior. We will consider whether the effects of family structure transitions vary by children's ages and assess whether the effects are transitory or persist over time.

Moreover, we will focus on whether there are differences in these effects when maternal "re-partnerings" constitute cohabitations, as opposed to marriages, as well as whether these associations differ by maternal education. As a sizeable proportion of children will undergo family structure transitions in the form of maternal re-partnerships, it is crucial to understand how these transitions affect children. This research has implications for public policies regarding marriage and family formation, as well as for designing programs and policies to promote child wellbeing for children in complex families

 

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