Parental divorce and children well-being: a new challenge for social policies. Anna Garriga PhD Candidate. Pompeu Fabra University. Department of Political and Social Sciences. Barcelona & Institute of Government and Public Policy (IGOP) Autonomus University of Barcelona (UAB). Clara Valls. PhD Candidate. Ramon Llull University. Department of Psychology. Barcelona. Introduction Introduction -- Literature Literature has has shown shown that that parental parental divorce divorce isis negatively negatively associated associated with with children’s children’s well-being well-being in in short short and and long long term term (Amato, (Amato,Spencer-Loomis Spencer-Loomis&&Both, Both,1995 1995)) Our Our aim aim isis to to show show the the relationship relationship between between parental parental divorce divorce and and children children educational educational outcomes outcomes and andthe the transition transitionto to adulthood. adulthood. -- ItIt has (Amato&&Keith, Keith,1991; 1991;Amato, Amato,2001). 2001). has been beenshowed showed in incross-sectional cross-sectional studies studies that that children children who who lived lived parental parental divorce divorceshow show worse worse educational educational outcomes outcomes than than children children of of intact intactfamilies. families. (Amato For For this this reason, reason, the the question question is: is: Is Isparental parental divorce divorce the thefactor factor that thatcauses causesall all these these differences differencesor orare are the thefamily’s family’s characteristics characteristicsbefore before this thisfact fact ?? Amato Amato (2001) (2001) defends defends that that itit isisnecessary necessaryto to improve improve the the number number and and quality qualityof of pre-divorce pre-divorcecontrols controls in in this this kind kindof of analysis. analysis. OBJECTIVE Toshow show the the effect effectof of parental parental divorce divorce on on educational educational outcomes outcomesat at 10 10 and and 30 30years years old, old, including including psychological, psychological, sociological sociologicaland and economical economicalcontrols controlsin in the the same same analysis. analysis. OBJECTIVE 1: 1: To OBJECTIVE 22: To OBJECTIVE 2: To observe observe the the association association between between parental parental divorce divorce and and transition transition to to adulthood adulthood at at 30 30 years years old. old. Transition Transition to to adulthood adulthood isis related related to: to: psychological psychological well-being well-being and and variables variables associated associated to to developmental developmental tasks taskstypical typical of of adulthood adulthoodas as the theprocess process of of individuation individuationand and the theformation formationof of couple couple relationships relationships (Ericson, (Ericson,1982). 1982). Data: Data: Longitudinal Longitudinal studies studies have have aa long long tradition tradition in in the the United United Kingdom. Kingdom. The The survey survey “British “British Cohort Cohort Study Study 70” 70” studies studies the the generation generation that that was was born born in in 1970. 1970. Three Three waves waves of of the the survey survey have have been been considered: considered: when when the the cohort cohort members members are are 5, 5, 10 10and and30 30 years years old. old. Transition Transition to to adulthood adulthood and and couple couple relationship: relationship: Educational Educational Outcomes Outcomes :: Sample Sample Children who have lived with natural parents between 0 and 10 years old. Children who have experienced parental divorce between 5 and 10 years old. Young Young adults adults at at 30 30 years years old old who who have have experienced experienced parental parental divorce divorce .. Young-adults Young-adults at at 30 30 years years old old whose whose parents parents have have always always lived lived together. together. Closness Results - Close mother - Close father Individuation process Distance Table 1: OLS Coeficients for educational outcomes at age 10. Test Divorce 5- 10 years Sex Mother’s age Parents not from Great Britain Father’s manual class Live in rented flat or house Father’s years of education Mother works more than 20 hours. Parents did not read to the children last week Mother with psicological problems Child psicological well-being Chid reads some words Test (Copy Designs) Test (Vocabulary) Constant R2 N Sentences -1,74** (0,83) -0,98** (0,39) 0,02 (0,04) Math -1,74*** (0,68) 1,68*** (0,32) 0,04** (0,03) Reading -2,60*** (0,84) -2,53*** (0,40) 0,04 (0,04) Vocabulary -1,23*** (0,45) 1,92*** (0,22) 0,04 (0,02) -4,03*** (1,05) -1,30*** (0,85) -1,69 (1,06) -2,12*** (0,57) -4,17*** (0,48) -3,91*** (0,39) -4,47 *** (0,48) -1,79*** (0,26) -3,42*** (0,45) -2,84*** (0,37)) -3,66 *** (0,46) -1,62*** (0,25) 0, 70*** (0,11) 0, 73*** (0,09) 0, 94*** (0,11) 0, 43*** (0,06) -1,20 (0,62) -0,64** (0,33) 0, 31 (0,61) -3,08*** -0,31* (0,65) (0,51) -0,17*** (0,04) -0,68 (0,51) -2,05*** (0,54) -4,04*** (0,66) -1,23*** (0,36) -0,98*** (0,41) -1,71*** (0,51) -0,97*** (0,27) -0,19*** (0,04) -0,20*** (0,04) -0,03 (0,02) 2,16*** (0,41) 2,53*** (0,34) 3,24*** (0,42) 1,42*** (0,22) 4,27*** (0,15) 2,08*** (0,21) 72,38 0,204 7686 4,94*** (0,17) 1,70*** (0,12) 65,01 0,28 7602 5,44*** (0,22) 2,66*** (0,15) 67,19 0,28 7602 1,75*** (0,16) 1,57*** (0,08) 57,74 0,20 7722 *p<0.10, ** p<0.05,*** p<0.01 Table 2: Odds ratio for educational outcomes at age 30 . Divorce 5- 10 years Sex Mother’s age Parents not from Great Britain Father’s manual class Live in rented flat or house Father’s years of education Mother works more than 20 hours. Parents didn’t read to the children last week Mother with psicological problems Child psicological well-being Chid reads some words Test (Copy Designs) Test (Vocabulary) Log-Likelihood N No O Level 1,46*** (0,12) 1,27*** (0,06) 1,00 (0,01) No A Level 1,57*** (0,15) 1,17* (0,06) 0,99 (0,01) No Degree 1,57*** (0,15) 1,17* (0,06) 0,99 (0,01) 0,69** 0,43** 0,43** (0,17) (0,17) 1,54*** ( 0,07) 1,90*** (0,06) 1,90*** (0,06) 1,87*** (0,06) 1,87*** (0,06) 0,88*** (0,02) 0,84*** (0,02) 0,84*** (0,02) 1,18* (0,09) 1,08 1,38*** (0,09) 1,56*** 1,10*** (0,07) 1,15* (0,07) 1,15* (0,07) 1,01*** (0,01) 1,01** (0,01) 1,01** (0,01) (0,09) 1,08 1,56*** (0,09) (0,09) 0,90*** (0,06) 0,92 (0,06) 0,92 (0,06) 0,70*** (0,02) 0,91*** (0,03) 7001,8 6676 0,77*** (0,02) 0,84*** (0,03) 7230,8 6676 0,77*** (0,02) 0,84*** (0,03) 7230,8 6676 Developmental tasks (Erikson, 1982) 1. “Sentences Test”, “Match Test”, “Reading Test” and “Vocabulary test” at 10 years old have scores from 0 to 100. -Feeling depressed -Feeling irritated Relational-Simbolic Model (Scabini & Cigili, 2000) Couple relationships Emotional dimention - Marit.happiness - Marriage- cohab. - Marriage opinion Ethical dimention Table 3: Odds ratio for variables related to transition to adulthood at age 30. We observe that, although the introduction of controls in all kind of dimensions, the variable “parental divorce between 5 and 10 years old” have negative and significant impact on the scores obtained in all tests. - Demographic variables - Economical Dimension - Sociological Dimension - Psychological Dimension - Educational outcomes at 5 years old. (0,17) 1,59*** ( 0,06 ) (0,09) Psychological Well-being Parental Divorce Sex Manual class Financial Problems Years of education Parents not from Great Britain Father’s manual class l Father’s years of education LogLikelihood N Feeling Depresed Feeling Irritated Close Mother Close Father Marr/coho r single Marriageo r cohab. Marriage opinion 1.308*** (.083) .553*** (.077) 1.056 (.088) 2.228*** (.08) .984 (.013) 1.508* (.177) 1.209** (.073) .584*** (.066) 1.129 (.075) 1.485*** (.073) .987 (.011) .961 (.173) .319*** (.099) .715*** (.104) .853 (.112) .704*** (.109) 1.046** (.020) 1.302 (.297) .113*** (.081) 1.097 (.84) .871 (.094) .872 (.094) .987 (.014) .699* (.207) .578*** (0.075) .810*** (.067) 1.19** (.08) .666*** (.076.) .96*** (.01) .567*** (.154) .797*** (.076) .756*** (.065) .897 (.074) .962 (.078) .975* (.010) 1.232 (.185) .598*** (.113) 1.244* (.102) .895 (.116) .898 (.12) 1.038* (.018) 1.119 (.289) 1.018 (.087) .953 (.074) .839 (.119) .851* (.096) 1.22*** (.076) .936 (.074) .91 (.117) 1.012 (.02) 1.003 (.017) .982 (.028) 1.012 (.023) .947*** (.016) .998 (.018) .979 (.028) 4892.671 6190.830 3075.439 4079.058 5909.039 5857.939 2671.988 6019 619 5852 5535 5796 4529 2890 *p<0.10, ** p<0.05,*** p<0.01 2. Among variables “No O level”, “No A level”, “No Degree” the odds ratio of the variable divorce is always positive and significant. Obtaining low educational levels is more likely to occur in those people whose parents have divorced between 5 and 10 years old than those whose parents have not divorced during the same period. Individual characteristics Family characteristics Table 4: OLS Coeficients for “How happy is cohort member relatioship? scale”. Parental -.257** Divorce (.011) Sex .088 (.010) Manual .089 class (.010) Financial -.022 Problems (.011) Years of . 031 ** education (.015) Parents .024 not from (.024) Great Britain Father’s manual class Father’s years of education Constant R2 N -.038 (.010) -.003 (.025) 4.597 0.005 2849 *p<0.10, ** p<0.05,*** p<0.01 1. Parental divorce is positively associated with “Feeling depressed” and “Feeling irritable”. 2. Parental divorce is negatively associated with “Having a close relationship with the father” and “Having a close relationship with the mother”. 3. Young adults who have experienced parental divorce have less probability of cohabitating with or being married than being single (never-married). 4. Parental divorce is negatively associated with being married instead of cohabitating with. 5. Married people who experienced parental divorce have less probability of considering that “Marriage is for life”, than those whose parents have not divorced. 6. Among those who are married, parental divorce has significant and negative association with the continuous variable –“ How happy is the relationship”(a 10 points scale). *p<0.10, ** p<0.05,*** p<0.01 Conclusion Parental divorce is negatively associated with children’ children’s wellwell-being. 1. Parental divorce has negative and significant effects on children children’’s educational outcomes at 10 and 30 years old, despite of the introduction introduction of control variables before the divorce, considering economical, sociological and psychological dimensions. Referecnes 2. Among the variables related to the transition to the adulthood, adulthood, we can not show effects of parental divorce, but only associations. Parental divorce is associated with more difficulties in the transition to adulthood. 3. For this reason, if parental divorce has important effects on children’ children’s wellwell-being, we consider that social policies and social services have to answer this new imbalance caused caused by family instability. For this purpose, psychologists have shown that some measures and programs can help help families before and after divorce happens. Amato, P. (2001). Children of divorce in the 1990s: An update of Amato & Keith (1991) Metaanalysis. Joural of Family Psychology, 15, 355-370. Amato, P. & Keith, B. (1991). Parental divorce and adult well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and the family, 53, 43-58. Amato, Spencer-Loomis & Both (1995). Parental divorce, marital conflict, and offspring well-being during early adoulthood. Social Forces, 73, 895-915. Erikson, E. (1982). The life cycle completed. New York: Norton. Scabini, E. & Cigoli, V. (2000). Il famigliare. Legami, simbili e transizioni. Milano: Raffaello Cortina