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Short- and Medium-Term Effects of Parental Separation on Children's Well-Being

Evidence from Uruguay

Bibliographic Data

ID4121540
AuthorsMarisa Bucheli (0000-0003-0159-4712), Andrea Vigorito (0009-0006-0087-5087, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume49
Issue2
Pages351-377
Publication date2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePopulation and Development Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0098-7921 • E-ISSN: 1728-4457
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/padr.12556
OpenAlexW3190449237
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited42

There is limited quantitative research on the effect of parental union dissolution on children's well-being in developing countries. We use three waves of an Uruguayan longitudinal study that follows a cohort of first graders at public primary schools in 2004 to study the short-term (at age 13) and medium-term (at age 19) effects of parental separation on school attendance, grade repetition, completed years of schooling, socioemotional status, time devoted to a broad range of activities, and labor force participation. We carry out a difference-in-difference fixed-effects estimation comparing children of married or cohabiting couples that remained together versus a similar group of children whose parents separated after 2004. In contrast to studies for developed countries, socioemotional well-being remains unchanged. However, union dissolution worsens boys' educational outcomes in the short and medium term, whereas girls are only affected in the short term. Since lower educational attainment is difficult to reverse, it can result in reduced earnings during adulthood and in this way contribute to the intergenerational transmission of disadvantages. We also explore a set of potential moderators, including household income, maternal employment, access to durable goods, and public transfers, which suggest that worsened educational outcomes are closely connected to post-separation economic hardship

Attendance · Demographic economics · Developmental psychology · Disadvantage · Earnings · Economic growth · Economics · Educational attainment · Political science · Population · Separation (statistics) · Socioeconomic status · Socioemotional selectivity theory · Sociology · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology

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Unique citing works1
Citations per year1
Citation span2026 - 2026 (1)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 1
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