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Author: Ginther, Donna K.
Resulting in 9 citations.
1. Bjorklund, Anders
Ginther, Donna K.
Sundstrom, Marianne
Does Marriage Matter for Kids? The Impact of Legal Marriage on Child Outcomes
Presented: Bergen, Norway, XVIII Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics, June 2004.
Also: http://www.creato.no/espe_2004/sider/pdf/Sundstrom_abstr.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: European Society for Population Economics (ESPE)
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Children, Academic Development; Children, Behavioral Development; Children, Well-Being; Cohabitation; Family Structure; Marriage; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Sweden, Swedish

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The association between marriage and positive outcomes for children has been documented in numerous studies. For example, McLanahan and Sandefur (1994) show that educational, fertility, and inactivity outcomes for children who grow up with a single-parent or stepparent are far worse than for those children who grow up in an intact family with both (married) biological parents. However, the causal effect of marriage on child outcomes is difficult to identify because marriage is not randomly assigned. Most previous studies of the impact of marriage are plagued by this selection problem. Despite the positive associations between marriage and outcomes, cohabitation is increasing in the U.S. and is ubiquitous in Sweden. In 2000 3.7 percent of household were cohabiting unions in the U.S. Cohabitation in Sweden is more common than anywhere else in the industrialized world, and, although it is more similar to legal marriage than is the case in the U.S., it does not have the same legal implications, e.g. in case of separation or death. Examining the effects of marriage and cohabitation in the U.S: and Sweden allow us to determine whether legal marriage confers benefits to children beyond the similar but less formal ties of cohabitation. This topic is very timely given the Bush Administration's investment of $1.5 billion to promote healthy marriage in the U. S. We address the following research questions: Does legal status of the union matter for children's outcomes? Is it the biological relationship, the quality, or the legal status of their union that confers advantages on children in Sweden and the U.S.? How do children's educational outcomes compare for those residing with cohabiting parents (both biologically related to the children) and those residing with married biological parents and single-parent families in the U.S. and Sweden? How do the results from Sweden inform United States policies that seek to promote healthy marriage?

We use two data sets for the U.S. The first sample is taken from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and the second is the 2000 wave of the NLSY-Child which contains information from 3,425 women with 8,323 children. Combining information from the NLSY79 marital/cohabitating history of their mothers and questions about family structure in the NLSY-Child we create a family structure history. This allow us to distinguish between children living with married biological parents, cohabiting parents, single mothers, mothers married to stepfathers, and mothers cohabiting with unrelated males. We use a number of educational outcomes. For children from ages 5 to 15 we have assessment instruments including three Peabody Individual Achievement Tests (PIAT) for reading and math and the Behavior Problems index which measures a child's anti-social behavior. For children over the ages of 15 we observe school enrollment status and highest grade completed. Explanatory variables include demographic characteristics, parental education, number of siblings, and family income.

For Sweden we use a random sample of children born 1974-84 drawn from the population registers. The data sample roughly 20 percent of Swedish children born each year from 1974-84 and their siblings. The total sample size is over 300,000 child observations. This data is combined with family and individual information from the censuses from 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985 and 1990. Our outcome variables are grade point average at age 16, high school graduation at age 19, and years of schooling and earnings for older children in the sample. We create marital history--length of cohabitation and length of marriage-- for the parents using information from the bidecennial censuses from 1990 and before and tax records after 1990. Our explanatory variables include the sibling composition of the household (his children, her children, and their joint biological children), the educational attainment and earnings of the adults in the household, and whether the family lives in an urban area.

Identifying the causal effect of marriage on outcomes is complicated by the selection problem. We use IV-methods as well as fixed-effect models to deal with this problem.

Bibliography Citation
Bjorklund, Anders, Donna K. Ginther and Marianne Sundstrom. "Does Marriage Matter for Kids? The Impact of Legal Marriage on Child Outcomes." Presented: Bergen, Norway, XVIII Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics, June 2004.
2. Bjorklund, Anders
Ginther, Donna K.
Sundstrom, Marianne
Family Structure and Child Outcomes in the United States and Sweden
IZA Discussion Paper No. 1259, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), August 2004.
Also: http://ssrn.com/abstract=579823
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Keyword(s): Cohabitation; Educational Attainment; Family Structure; Marriage; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Siblings; Sweden, Swedish

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

It is well known that children reared in non-intact families on average have less favorable educational outcomes than children reared in two-parent families. Evidence from the United States and Sweden indicates that living in a non-intact family is correlated with lower educational attainment. In this paper we compare the relationships between family structure and children's outcomes in terms of educational attainment and earnings using data from Sweden and the United States. Comparing the United States and Sweden is interesting because both family structure and public policy environments in the two countries differ significantly. Family structure could potentially have a less negative effect in Sweden than in the United States because of the extensive social safety net provided by that country. We find, however, the associations between family structure and children's outcomes to be remarkably similar in the United States and Sweden even though the policy and social environments differ between the two countries; living in a non-intact family is negatively related to child outcomes. This relationship is weakened when we control for other family characteristics, such as time lived with full and half siblings. In addition, when we use sibling difference models to take account of unobserved family characteristics, the relationship is no longer statistically significant. Taken together, our results suggest that the true effect of family structure is more complex than the biological relationship of parents to children in both Sweden and the United States.
Bibliography Citation
Bjorklund, Anders, Donna K. Ginther and Marianne Sundstrom. "Family Structure and Child Outcomes in the United States and Sweden." IZA Discussion Paper No. 1259, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), August 2004.
3. Ginther, Donna K.
Alternative Estimates of the Effect of Schooling on Earnings
Review of Economics and Statistics 82,1 (February 2000): 103-116.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2646676
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Earnings; Family Structure; Schooling

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper examines how assumptions imposed on the data influence estimates of schooling's effect on earnings. The paper models schooling decisions as treatment effects and imposes assumptions about schooling selection to estimate bounds on the treatment effect. The study begins by using the worst-case bounds derived by Manski (1989, 1990, 1994, 1995) and adds assumptions from the Roy model of schooling self-selection to narrow the bounds on the schooling treatment effect. The bounds are narrowed further by using family structure, college proximity, and school-quality characteristics as exclusion restrictions. The selection problem requires the researcher to make explicit assumptions to estimate the effect of schooling on earnings. This paper demonstrates that different selection assumptions yield very different results.
Bibliography Citation
Ginther, Donna K. "Alternative Estimates of the Effect of Schooling on Earnings." Review of Economics and Statistics 82,1 (February 2000): 103-116.
4. Ginther, Donna K.
Pollak, Robert A.
Does Family Structure Affect Children's Educational Outcomes?
Working Paper 2000-13a, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, December 2000.
Also: http://www.frbatlanta.org/frbatlanta/filelegacydocs/wp0013a.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Education; Family Structure; Household Composition; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Residence; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In this paper we examine the effect of family structure on children's educational outcomes by exploiting the sibling structure in the NLSY and NLSY-Child to control for unobserved heterogeneity across families and individuals. We also compare outcomes for children within the same family?stepchildren with their half-siblings in the same blended family who are the biological children of both parents. Using panel data methods to control for unobserved heterogeneity across families, we find that family structure effects are statistically insignificant. Finally, comparing half-siblings in our data, we find no difference in educational outcomes as a function of family structure. Our empirical results are consistent with at least two interpretations. First, they can be interpreted as evidence that estimates of family structure effects reflect selection rather than causation. Second, they can be interpreted as evidence that the presence of stepchildren disrupts families. (Copyright: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 2000.)
Bibliography Citation
Ginther, Donna K. and Robert A. Pollak. "Does Family Structure Affect Children's Educational Outcomes?" Working Paper 2000-13a, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, December 2000.
5. Ginther, Donna K.
Pollak, Robert A.
Does Family Structure Affect Children's Educational Outcomes?
Presented: Atlanta, GA, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, May 2002
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Family Structure; Household Composition; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In this paper we estimate a statistical model of intra-household allocation of human capital that controls for family structure and uses data from the NLSY79, NLSY79-Child, and PSID. Our analysis begins with estimates of the effect of family structure on children's educational outcomes assuming family structure is exogenously assigned. Next, we exploit the sibling structure in the data to control for unobserved heterogeneity across families using family fixed effects. Finally, we compare educational outcomes for stepchildren and their half-siblings in the same blended family who are the biological children of both parents. As additional variables are added to the specification, family structure effects attenuate. Using fixed effects estimates, we find that family structure effects are statistically insignificant. Comparing half-siblings in our data, we find no difference in educational outcomes as a function of family structure.
Bibliography Citation
Ginther, Donna K. and Robert A. Pollak. "Does Family Structure Affect Children's Educational Outcomes?" Presented: Atlanta, GA, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, May 2002.
6. Ginther, Donna K.
Pollak, Robert A.
Family Structure and Children's Educational Outcomes: Blended Families, Stylized Facts, and Descriptive Regressions
Working Paper, Population Research Center, NORC & the University of Chicago, March 2004.
Also: http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/prc/pdfs/ginthe02.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: National Opinion Research Center - NORC
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Family Structure; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Siblings

This paper is a revised and retitled version of "Does Family Structure Affect Children's Educational Outcomes?"

This paper adds to the growing literature describing correlations between children's educational outcomes and family structure. Although popular discussions focus on the distinction between twoparent families and single-parent families, McLanahan and Sandefur [1994] show that outcomes for stepchildren are similar to outcomes for children in single-parent families. McLanahan and Sandefur describe their results as showing that the crucial distinction is between children who were reared by both biological parents and children who were not. This description is misleading. This paper shows that educational outcomes for both types of children in blended families -- stepchildren and their half-siblings who are the joint biological children of both parents -- are similar to each other and substantially worse than outcomes for children reared in traditional nuclear families. We conclude that, as a description of the data, the crucial distinction is between children reared in traditional nuclear families (i.e., families in which all children are the joint biological children of both parents) and children reared in other family structures (e.g., single-parent families or blended families). We then turn from "stylized facts" (i.e., simple correlations) which control only for family structure to "descriptive regressions" which control for other variables such as family income. When controls for other variables are introduced, the relationship between family structure and children's educational outcomes weakens substantially and is often statistically insignificant. In the conclusion we clarify the question, "What is the effect of family structure on outcomes for children?" Interpreted literally, the question asks about the effect of one endogenous variable on another. We argue for reformulating the family structure question by specifying some explicit counterfactual, and express a preference for a policy-relevant counterfactual.
Bibliography Citation
Ginther, Donna K. and Robert A. Pollak. "Family Structure and Children's Educational Outcomes: Blended Families, Stylized Facts, and Descriptive Regressions." Working Paper, Population Research Center, NORC & the University of Chicago, March 2004.
7. Ginther, Donna K.
Pollak, Robert A.
Family Structure and Children's Educational Outcomes: Blended Families, Stylized Facts, and Descriptive Regressions
Demography 41,4 (2004): 671-696.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/y452487043748w32/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Education; Educational Outcomes; Family Structure; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article adds to the growing literature describing correlations between children's educational outcomes and family structure. Popular discussions have focused on the distinction between two-parent families and single-parent families. This article shows that educational outcomes for both types of children in blended families­ stepchildren and their half-siblings who are the joint children of both parents ­are similar to each other and substantially worse than outcomes for children reared in traditional nuclear families. We conclude that as a description of the data, the crucial distinction is between children reared in traditional nuclear families (i.e., families in which all children are the joint children of both parents) and children reared in other family structures (e.g., single-parent families or blended families). We then turn from "stylized facts" (i.e., simple correlations) that control only for family structure to "descriptive regressions" that control for other variables such as family income. When controls for other variables are introduced, the relationship between family structure and children's educational outcomes weakens substantially and is often statistically insignificant.
Bibliography Citation
Ginther, Donna K. and Robert A. Pollak. "Family Structure and Children's Educational Outcomes: Blended Families, Stylized Facts, and Descriptive Regressions." Demography 41,4 (2004): 671-696.
8. Ginther, Donna K.
Zavodny, Madeline
Is The Male Marriage Premium Due To Selection? The Effect of Shotgun Weddings on the Return to Marriage
Journal of Population Economics 14,2 (June 2001): 313-328.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/2ch2fakefhdhm6nd/
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Earnings; Earnings, Husbands; Husbands, Income; Marital Status; Marriage; Wage Determination; Wages; Wages, Men

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In standard cross-sectional wage regressions, married men appear to earn 10 to 20% more than comparable never married men. One proposed explanation for this male marriage premium is that men may be selected into marriage on the basis of characteristics valued by employers as well as by spouses or because they earn high wages. This paper examines the selection hypothesis by focusing on shotgun weddings, which may make marital status uncorrelated with earnings ability. We compare the estimated marriage premium between white men whose first marriages are soon followed by a birth and other married white men in the United States. The return to marriage differs little for married men with a premarital conception and other married men, and the results suggest that at most 10% of the estimated marriage premium is due to selection.
Bibliography Citation
Ginther, Donna K. and Madeline Zavodny. "Is The Male Marriage Premium Due To Selection? The Effect of Shotgun Weddings on the Return to Marriage." Journal of Population Economics 14,2 (June 2001): 313-328.
9. Pollak, Robert A.
Ginther, Donna K.
Does Family Structure Affect Children's Educational Outcomes?
NBER Working Paper No. 9628, National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2003.
Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/9628
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Children, Academic Development; Children, Behavioral Development; Education; Endogeneity; Family Structure; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Siblings; Taxes

This paper makes two contributions. First, it adds to the growing literature describing correlations between children's educational outcomes and family structure. Although popular discussions focus on the distinction between two-parent families and single-parent families, McLanahan and Sandefur [1994] show that outcomes for stepchildren are similar to outcomes for children in single-parent families. McLanahan and Sandefur describe their results as showing that the crucial distinction is between children who were reared by both biological parents and children who were not. This description is misleading.

This paper shows that educational outcomes for both types of children in blended families -- stepchildren and their half-siblings who are the joint biological children of both parents -- are similar to each other and substantially worse than outcomes for children reared in traditional nuclear families. We conclude that, as a description of the data, the crucial distinction is between children reared in traditional nuclear families (i.e., families in which all children are the joint biological children of both parents) and children reared in other family structure (e.g., single-parent families or blended families).

The paper's second contribution is to clarify the question, "What is the effect of family structure on outcomes for children?" Interpreted literally, the question asks about the effect of one endogenous variable on another. We argue for reformulating the family structure question by specifying some explicit counterfactual, and express a preference for a policy-relevant counterfactual. As an example, we suggest considering the effect of reducing the "marriage penalty" in the earned-income tax credit (EITC) that makes the credit essentially unavailable to two-earner couples. The EITC marriage penalty counterfactual, like any policy-relevant counterfactual, focuses attention on outcomes for those children whose parent's behavior is affected by the incentives created by the policy change.

Bibliography Citation
Pollak, Robert A. and Donna K. Ginther. "Does Family Structure Affect Children's Educational Outcomes?" NBER Working Paper No. 9628, National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2003.