TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of social fathers on the cognitive skills of out-of-wedlock children in the U.S
AU - Chan, Kwok Ho
AU - Fung, Ka Wai Terence
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2018/2
Y1 - 2018/2
N2 - There are two competing views regarding the presence of social fathers on childrens’ cognitive ability: (1) either the social father provides more financial resources which benefit the children or (2) the mother with new partners may shift the focus away from the children. Previous research focused on older children or adolescents and ignored the self-selection problem. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), and a sample of younger children. Using propensity score matching method (nonparametric methods), we find that children with social fathers scored around three points less in a cognitive ability test than children living only with biological mothers (assuming that self-selection is based on observables). The result remains robust when using a control-function analysis (parametric method).
AB - There are two competing views regarding the presence of social fathers on childrens’ cognitive ability: (1) either the social father provides more financial resources which benefit the children or (2) the mother with new partners may shift the focus away from the children. Previous research focused on older children or adolescents and ignored the self-selection problem. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), and a sample of younger children. Using propensity score matching method (nonparametric methods), we find that children with social fathers scored around three points less in a cognitive ability test than children living only with biological mothers (assuming that self-selection is based on observables). The result remains robust when using a control-function analysis (parametric method).
KW - Child welfare
KW - Family structure
KW - Fragile families
KW - Non-marital childbearing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85035135049&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ehb.2017.09.007
DO - 10.1016/j.ehb.2017.09.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 29150387
AN - SCOPUS:85035135049
SN - 1570-677X
VL - 28
SP - 146
EP - 159
JO - Economics and Human Biology
JF - Economics and Human Biology
ER -