THE ROLE OF GENDER AND FAMILY STRUCTURE IN THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL INCARCERATION AND ABSENCE ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

In this paper, using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, I first use an ordinary least squares model to analyse the effects of parental incarceration and absence on four child development outcomes —verbal ability, attention problems, internalising behaviour, and aggression— while controlling for observed family characteristics. To account for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity, I then estimate a fixed-effects model, regressing development outcomes on parental incarceration and absence. I unexpectedly find that maternal incarceration and absence yield more significant estimates than parental incarceration and absence. Subsequently, I also examine the role of parental re-partnering in accentuating or dampening the effects of parental incarceration and absence on child development. Here, I find that the differential effects of maternal incarceration and absence on child outcomes, for children whose fathers re-partnered relative to those whose fathers did not, are more significant than the differential effects of paternal incarceration and absence.