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Author: Pollak, Robert A.
Resulting in 5 citations.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.