Full Citation

Title: The Effect of Marital Breakup on the Income Distribution of Women with Children

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2008

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI: 10.1353/jhr.2008.0025

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Having a female first-born child significantly increases the probability that a woman's first marriage breaks up. Using this exogenous variation, recent work finds that divorce has little effect on women's mean household income. We further investigate the effect of divorce using Quantile Treatment Effect methodology and find that it increases women's odds of having very high or very low income. In other words, while some women successfully compensate for lost spousal earnings through child support, welfare, combining households, and increasing labor supply, others are markedly unsuccessful. We conclude that by raising both poverty and inequality, divorce has important welfare consequences.

Url: http://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/journal_of_human_resources/v043/43.3.ananat.html

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Authors: Ananat, Elizabeth O.; Michaels, Guy

Periodical (Full): Journal of Human Resources

Issue: 3

Volume: 43

Pages: 611-629

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Other

Countries: