SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 27,329-349 (1998) ARTICLE NO.S0980625 Windows on Divorce:Before and after Thomas L.Hanson University of California-Riverside Sara S.McLanahan Princeton University and Elizabeth Thomson University of Wisconsin-Madison This paper uses data from the National Survey of Families and Households to examine how parental divorce is related to three important types of family resources:economic resources,parental resources (socialization practices),and community resources.We pay special attention to the dynamic character of family resources,examining how resources change as parents move closer to divorce and whether the consequences of divorce for family resources are short term or long term.Consistent with other work in this area,we find that parental divorce has severe negative consequences for the economic well-being of mothers and children.Most of our results for parental resources suggest that marital disruption results in declines in effective parental practices,at least in the short term.Our results for community resources provide some evidence that parental divorce results in gains in extra-household sources of support-although in some areas,community re- sources decline after divorce as well.1998 Academic Press INTRODUCTION Divorce is both an event and a process.Many of the changes we associate with divorce can be observed well before and long after a couple lives apart or formally An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America,held May 9-11,1996,in New Orleans,LA.The research was supported by Grants HD29601 and HD19375 from the Center for Population Research,National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.The National Survey of Families and Households was funded by NIH Grant HD21009. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Thomas Hanson,Healthy Families Project-142, University of California-Riverside,Riverside,CA 92521.E-mail:tom.hanson@ucr.edu. 329 0049-089X98$25.00 Copyright 1998 by Academie Press All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
Windows on Divorce: Before and after Thomas L. Hanson University of California–Riverside Sara S. McLanahan Princeton University and Elizabeth Thomson University of Wisconsin—Madison This paper uses data from the National Survey of Families and Households to examine how parental divorce is related to three important types of family resources: economic resources, parental resources (socialization practices), and community resources. We pay special attention to the dynamic character of family resources, examining how resources change as parents move closer to divorce and whether the consequences of divorce for family resources are short term or long term. Consistent with other work in this area, we find that parental divorce has severe negative consequences for the economic well-being of mothers and children. Most of our results for parental resources suggest that marital disruption results in declines in effective parental practices, at least in the short term. Our results for community resources provide some evidence that parental divorce results in gains in extra-household sources of support—although in some areas, community resources decline after divorce as well. r 1998 Academic Press INTRODUCTION Divorce is both an event and a process. Many of the changes we associate with divorce can be observed well before and long after a couple lives apart or formally An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, held May 9–11, 1996, in New Orleans, LA. The research was supported by Grants HD29601 and HD19375 from the Center for Population Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The National Survey of Families and Households was funded by NIH Grant HD21009. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Thomas Hanson, Healthy Families Project-142, University of California–Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521. E-mail: tom.hanson@ucr.edu. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 27, 329–349 (1998) ARTICLE NO. S0980625 329 0049-089X/98 $25.00 Copyright r 1998 by Academic Press All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. SSR625 @xyserv1/disk4/CLS_jrnlkz/GRP_ssrj/JOB_ssrj27-3/DIV_231a04 debb No. of Pages—21 First page no.—329 Last page no.—349
330 HANSON,MCLANAHAN,AND THOMSON terminates their marriage.Identifying the timing of changes associated with divorce is particularly important for understanding how divorce influences the resources available to children and subsequently influences child welfare. We know that children whose parents divorcel are disadvantaged in a variety of ways as compared to children who grow up with both parents(see Amato and Keith,1991;Furstenberg and Cherlin,1991;McLanahan and Sandefur,1994). These findings have been replicated with different data sets,for children of different ages,and for children from different social class backgrounds and different race and ethnic groups(McLanahan and Sandefur,1994).We also know that divorce is associated with reduced family resources-economic,parental, and community-and that differences in resources can account for some of the associations between divorce and child welfare(McLanahan and Sandefur,1994). What is less clear is when and how differences in family resources emerge in the process of divorce.Are some differences clearly evident well before a marriage is in trouble?That is,are the resource differences between divorcing and intact families due in part to selection into divorce of families with fewer resources?Or do resource differences appear as the result of marital or family problems that eventually result in divorce?That is,do the true "effects"of divorce emerge during the process of marital separation rather than after the final event?Or is it the event of divorce itself that creates losses in economic,parental, or community resources for children?Finally,are resource losses associated with divorce recouped over time,particularly if a mother remarries or cohabits?The answers to these questions are necessary to understand how children are likely to fare in the process of their parents'divorce. In this article,we use data from the 1987-1988 and 1992-1994 waves of the National Survey of Families and Households to examine how divorce and family resources are related over time.We examine whether children experience signifi- cant reductions in family resources subsequent to divorce;whether resource losses,when they exist,precede the actual event of marital disruption;and whether divorce is associated with short-term or long-term losses of family resources,contingent on the mother's remarriage or repartnering. DIVORCE AND FAMILY RESOURCES Three types of resources have been identified as especially important in the divorce process:economic resources,parental resources,and community re- sources.Economic resources are the material resources available to the house- hold,including income and assets.A good deal of research has demonstrated that economic resources are positively related to child well-being(Elder,Van Nguyen, and Caspi,1985;McLoyd,1990;Huston,1991;Miller and Korenman,1993; Duncan and Brooks-Gunn,1997).Families with more income can purchase more goods and materials that enhance healthy child development.Economic resources 】Throughout the paper,.we use the terms“divorce,”“marital dissolution,”and“marital separa- tion”synonymously
terminates their marriage. Identifying the timing of changes associated with divorce is particularly important for understanding how divorce influences the resources available to children and subsequently influences child welfare. We know that children whose parents divorce1 are disadvantaged in a variety of ways as compared to children who grow up with both parents (see Amato and Keith, 1991; Furstenberg and Cherlin, 1991; McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994). These findings have been replicated with different data sets, for children of different ages, and for children from different social class backgrounds and different race and ethnic groups (McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994). We also know that divorce is associated with reduced family resources—economic, parental, and community—and that differences in resources can account for some of the associations between divorce and child welfare (McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994). What is less clear is when and how differences in family resources emerge in the process of divorce. Are some differences clearly evident well before a marriage is in trouble? That is, are the resource differences between divorcing and intact families due in part to selection into divorce of families with fewer resources? Or do resource differences appear as the result of marital or family problems that eventually result in divorce? That is, do the true ‘‘effects’’ of divorce emerge during the process of marital separation rather than after the final event? Or is it the event of divorce itself that creates losses in economic, parental, or community resources for children? Finally, are resource losses associated with divorce recouped over time, particularly if a mother remarries or cohabits? The answers to these questions are necessary to understand how children are likely to fare in the process of their parents’ divorce. In this article, we use data from the 1987–1988 and 1992–1994 waves of the National Survey of Families and Households to examine how divorce and family resources are related over time. We examine whether children experience signifi- cant reductions in family resources subsequent to divorce; whether resource losses, when they exist, precede the actual event of marital disruption; and whether divorce is associated with short-term or long-term losses of family resources, contingent on the mother’s remarriage or repartnering. DIVORCE AND FAMILY RESOURCES Three types of resources have been identified as especially important in the divorce process: economic resources, parental resources, and community resources. Economic resources are the material resources available to the household, including income and assets. A good deal of research has demonstrated that economic resources are positively related to child well-being (Elder, Van Nguyen, and Caspi, 1985; McLoyd, 1990; Huston, 1991; Miller and Korenman, 1993; Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 1997). Families with more income can purchase more goods and materials that enhance healthy child development. Economic resources 1 Throughout the paper, we use the terms ‘‘divorce,’’ ‘‘marital dissolution,’’ and ‘‘marital separation’’ synonymously. 330 HANSON, MCLANAHAN, AND THOMSON SSR625 @xyserv1/disk4/CLS_jrnlkz/GRP_ssrj/JOB_ssrj27-3/DIV_231a04 debb
WINDOWS ON DIVORCE 331 can enhance parental and community resources as well.Economic stress can interfere with effective parenting practices(i.e.,McLeod and Shanahan,1993), and economic resources provide access to such community resources as safe neighborhoods and good schools. By parental resources,we mean high degrees of parental involvement,consis- tent parental supervision and discipline,and high and clearly stated expectations. A high degree of parental involvement provides directed learning opportunities for children and can also provide an important source of security and trust(Bradly et al.,1994).Consistent parental supervision and discipline can be effective deterrents of undesirable behavior (Patterson,1982).High and clearly stated parental expectations can provide a sense of direction and motivation to children. All of these types of parental practices have been found to be positively related to child well-being(Baumrind,1966;Patterson,1982;Maccoby and Martin,1983; Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber,1986).2 The third and final dimension of family resources considered is community resources,including ties to kin,friends,and formal organizations.Community and kin contacts can provide social support as well as access to information and opportunities(Coleman,1988).Social integration can also benefit children by benefiting parents,enhancing their psychological well-being and providing sup- port for effective parenting(Bronfenbrenner,1986). Each type of resource is a potential source of marital stability;could be adversely affected by marital strains;could change with the event of divorce itself,and might continue to change with time after divorce or with remarriage or repartnering.Evidence that the process of divorce is related to the timing of resource changes is relatively meager,so we rely primarily on theoretical arguments in the following discussion. We know the most about the timing of divorce and reduced economic resources.Economic deprivation and declines in income do lead to divorce (Becker,Landes,and Michael,1977;U.S.Bureau of the Census,1991a;Mott and Moore,1979;Ross and Sawhill,1975).Divorce also has severe negative conse- quences for the economic well-being of custodial mothers and children (U.S. Bureau of the Census,1991a;Duncan and Hoffman,1985;Holden and Smock, 1991;U.S.Bureau of the Census,1991a),in part due to loss of economies of scale,but mostly because noncustodial fathers pay little or no child support(U.S. Bureau of the Census,1991b).The economic losses experienced by custodial mothers and children after divorce appear to be relatively long term,unless the 2 Of course,parental practices are not the only type of parental resources.A second type of parental resource that is not considered here is how well parents get along with each other-or the reverse of that:parental conflict.Parental conflict is a negative parental resource,and a long line of research has demonstrated that parental conflict is negatively related to child well-being (e.g,Cummings and Davies,1994;Emery,1988;Grych and Fincham,1990;Hanson,forthcoming).We do not examine parental conflict in this analysis.Rather,we focus exclusively on those types of parental resources bearing directly on parent-child interaction
can enhance parental and community resources as well. Economic stress can interfere with effective parenting practices (i.e., McLeod and Shanahan, 1993), and economic resources provide access to such community resources as safe neighborhoods and good schools. By parental resources, we mean high degrees of parental involvement, consistent parental supervision and discipline, and high and clearly stated expectations. A high degree of parental involvement provides directed learning opportunities for children and can also provide an important source of security and trust (Bradly et al., 1994). Consistent parental supervision and discipline can be effective deterrents of undesirable behavior (Patterson, 1982). High and clearly stated parental expectations can provide a sense of direction and motivation to children. All of these types of parental practices have been found to be positively related to child well-being (Baumrind, 1966; Patterson, 1982; Maccoby and Martin, 1983; Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber, 1986).2 The third and final dimension of family resources considered is community resources, including ties to kin, friends, and formal organizations. Community and kin contacts can provide social support as well as access to information and opportunities (Coleman, 1988). Social integration can also benefit children by benefiting parents, enhancing their psychological well-being and providing support for effective parenting (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). Each type of resource is a potential source of marital stability; could be adversely affected by marital strains; could change with the event of divorce itself; and might continue to change with time after divorce or with remarriage or repartnering. Evidence that the process of divorce is related to the timing of resource changes is relatively meager, so we rely primarily on theoretical arguments in the following discussion. We know the most about the timing of divorce and reduced economic resources. Economic deprivation and declines in income do lead to divorce (Becker, Landes, and Michael, 1977; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1991a; Mott and Moore, 1979; Ross and Sawhill, 1975). Divorce also has severe negative consequences for the economic well-being of custodial mothers and children (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1991a; Duncan and Hoffman, 1985; Holden and Smock, 1991; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1991a), in part due to loss of economies of scale, but mostly because noncustodial fathers pay little or no child support (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1991b). The economic losses experienced by custodial mothers and children after divorce appear to be relatively long term, unless the 2 Of course, parental practices are not the only type of parental resources. A second type of parental resource that is not considered here is how well parents get along with each other—or the reverse of that: parental conflict. Parental conflict is a negative parental resource, and a long line of research has demonstrated that parental conflict is negatively related to child well-being (e.g., Cummings and Davies, 1994; Emery, 1988; Grych and Fincham, 1990; Hanson, forthcoming). We do not examine parental conflict in this analysis. Rather, we focus exclusively on those types of parental resources bearing directly on parent–child interaction. WINDOWS ON DIVORCE 331 SSR625 @xyserv1/disk4/CLS_jrnlkz/GRP_ssrj/JOB_ssrj27-3/DIV_231a04 debb
332 HANSON,MCLANAHAN,AND THOMSON mother remarries.Even with remarriage,it is not clear that children receive the full economic benefit of a stepfather's additional income or assets. Parenting resources have been investigated for the most part after divorce.We don't have evidence for the selection of less effective parents into divorce,but we can theorize that people who have difficulty in sustaining long-term emotional relationships with another adult may also be less effective in their relationships with children.More likely is that parenting difficulties observed prior to a divorce stem directly from the stress of a troubled marital relationship,particularly if the parents are no longer supportive of each other's parenting practices(Bronfenbren- ner,1986).The most obvious direct effect of divorce itself is,of course,the sharp reduction in contact between children and noncustodial parents(Furstenberg and Nord,1985;Seltzer,1991).Divorce may also interrupt bonds between custodial parents and children by preoccupying parents and decreasing their emotional availability (Hetherington and Camara,1984;Wallerstein and Kelly,1980).The income loss associated with divorce may require custodial parents to work more in the labor force and therefore to spend less time with their children.Some studies suggest that the adverse effects of divorce on effective parenting are short term.But when a custodial parent remarries,the new marital relationship may compete for the custodial parent's time with and attention to children. Finally,community resources can be a source of marital stability through support networks and normative pressure for a couple to remain together.Some research suggests that parents who subsequently divorce are less strongly tied to kin prior to divorce(Rossi and Rossi,1990).Residential mobility prior to divorce could weaken ties to friends and kin and reduce community resources available to sustain marriages and parent-child relationships.As a marriage becomes troubled, couples may withdraw from kin and community networks in which they have jointly participated and increasingly seek activities in which they are viewed as individuals rather than as a couple.After divorce,residential mobility is common for custodial parents,due primarily to reduced economic resources,and residen- tial mobility weakens community ties(McLanahan and Sandefur,1994).Parental divorce can also lead to a reduction of contact with old acquaintances- friendships that are more likely to have been based on couple-centered activities during marriage-because continued contact is uncomfortable (Milardo,1987). Over time,divorced persons are likely to develop new friendship and organiza- tional ties.Remarriage or repartnering can provide an entree into new kin and community networks. It is also possible that divorce and the process leading up to divorce may increase rather than decrease community resources for children.In the process and aftermath of divorce,parents'need for social support may strengthen their ties to extended family members and friends or increase their social participation (Albrecht,1980;Marks and McLanahan,1992).If so,changes in community resources associated with divorce could be a buffer for custodial parents and children against other resource losses
mother remarries. Even with remarriage, it is not clear that children receive the full economic benefit of a stepfather’s additional income or assets. Parenting resources have been investigated for the most part after divorce. We don’t have evidence for the selection of less effective parents into divorce, but we can theorize that people who have difficulty in sustaining long-term emotional relationships with another adult may also be less effective in their relationships with children. More likely is that parenting difficulties observed prior to a divorce stem directly from the stress of a troubled marital relationship, particularly if the parents are no longer supportive of each other’s parenting practices (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). The most obvious direct effect of divorce itself is, of course, the sharp reduction in contact between children and noncustodial parents (Furstenberg and Nord, 1985; Seltzer, 1991). Divorce may also interrupt bonds between custodial parents and children by preoccupying parents and decreasing their emotional availability (Hetherington and Camara, 1984; Wallerstein and Kelly, 1980). The income loss associated with divorce may require custodial parents to work more in the labor force and therefore to spend less time with their children. Some studies suggest that the adverse effects of divorce on effective parenting are short term. But when a custodial parent remarries, the new marital relationship may compete for the custodial parent’s time with and attention to children. Finally, community resources can be a source of marital stability through support networks and normative pressure for a couple to remain together. Some research suggests that parents who subsequently divorce are less strongly tied to kin prior to divorce (Rossi and Rossi, 1990). Residential mobility prior to divorce could weaken ties to friends and kin and reduce community resources available to sustain marriages and parent–child relationships. As a marriage becomes troubled, couples may withdraw from kin and community networks in which they have jointly participated and increasingly seek activities in which they are viewed as individuals rather than as a couple. After divorce, residential mobility is common for custodial parents, due primarily to reduced economic resources, and residential mobility weakens community ties (McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994). Parental divorce can also lead to a reduction of contact with old acquaintances— friendships that are more likely to have been based on couple-centered activities during marriage—because continued contact is uncomfortable (Milardo, 1987). Over time, divorced persons are likely to develop new friendship and organizational ties. Remarriage or repartnering can provide an entree into new kin and community networks. It is also possible that divorce and the process leading up to divorce may increase rather than decrease community resources for children. In the process and aftermath of divorce, parents’ need for social support may strengthen their ties to extended family members and friends or increase their social participation (Albrecht, 1980; Marks and McLanahan, 1992). If so, changes in community resources associated with divorce could be a buffer for custodial parents and children against other resource losses. 332 HANSON, MCLANAHAN, AND THOMSON SSR625 @xyserv1/disk4/CLS_jrnlkz/GRP_ssrj/JOB_ssrj27-3/DIV_231a04 debb
WINDOWS ON DIVORCE 333 DATA AND MEASURES Data for the analysis comes from the 1987-1988 and 1992-1994 National Survey of Families and Households(NSFH).The first wave ofthe NSFH included 13,008 individuals,including an oversample of minority families,single-parent families,families with stepchildren,cohabiting couples,and recently married persons (Sweet,Bumpass,and Call,1988).Interviews were conducted with a randomly selected adult in the household (primary respondent).Spouses and cohabiting partners of primary respondents(secondary respondents)were asked to complete self-administered questionnaires.The interview response rate for the first wave was 74%.At the second wave of the survey,an attempt was made to interview all primary and secondary respondents from wave 1,including second- ary respondents who no longer lived with primary respondents.A total of 10,008 primary respondents,5,635 wave 1 and new secondary respondents and 785 ex-spouses and ex-partners,were interviewed in the second wave(Sweet,Bump- ass,and Hansen 1995). The sample used in this analysis contains households in which a randomly selected child (focal child)lived with two married,biological (adopted)parents in 1987-1988.To be included in the sample,the focal child also must have lived with a biological mother and have been under the age of 19 at the time of the 1992-1994 survey.Single-father households were excluded from the analyses because they are relatively rare (n=63)and should be treated separately in an analysis of this type focusing on divorce and changes in family resources.The sample restrictions limit the potential sample size to 1813.3 Eleven percent (207/1813)of the children in the analytic sample experienced the breakup of their parents'marriage during the 5 years between 1987-1988 and 1992-1994.Almost half of those children also experienced the custodial mother's remarriage(48)or cohabitation(46)before the second wave. We include three measures of economic resources:(1)total household income, (2)income relative-to-needs and(3)home ownership.Total household income includes the annual income of all household members obtained from all sources (i.e.,wages and salaries,public assistance,child support).We converted house- hold income into 1992 dollars.The income-to-needs ratio is computed by dividing gross household income by the poverty thresholds established by the United States Bureau of the Census.4 An income-to-needs ratio at or below 1 indicates that the household is officially poor,while an income-to-needs ratio 3 Sample attrition was higher among nonwhites-particularly Hispanics-and among those with low levels of schooling.Separate analyses revealed few differences between respondents and nonrespondents on measures of family resources and expectations about divorce in 1987-1988. 4 These thresholds are based on the size of the household and the number of children under age 18. We used household size rather than family size as the basis for the poverty thresholds.Thus,we include the income and consumption of nonfamily members(i.e.,unmarried partners,grandmothers) in determining the standard of living
DATA AND MEASURES Data for the analysis comes from the 1987–1988 and 1992–1994 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). The first wave of the NSFH included 13,008 individuals, including an oversample of minority families, single-parent families, families with stepchildren, cohabiting couples, and recently married persons (Sweet, Bumpass, and Call, 1988). Interviews were conducted with a randomly selected adult in the household (primary respondent). Spouses and cohabiting partners of primary respondents (secondary respondents) were asked to complete self-administered questionnaires. The interview response rate for the first wave was 74%. At the second wave of the survey, an attempt was made to interview all primary and secondary respondents from wave 1, including secondary respondents who no longer lived with primary respondents. A total of 10,008 primary respondents, 5,635 wave 1 and new secondary respondents and 785 ex-spouses and ex-partners, were interviewed in the second wave (Sweet, Bumpass, and Hansen 1995). The sample used in this analysis contains households in which a randomly selected child (focal child) lived with two married, biological (adopted) parents in 1987–1988. To be included in the sample, the focal child also must have lived with a biological mother and have been under the age of 19 at the time of the 1992–1994 survey. Single-father households were excluded from the analyses because they are relatively rare (n 5 63) and should be treated separately in an analysis of this type focusing on divorce and changes in family resources. The sample restrictions limit the potential sample size to 1813.3 Eleven percent (207/1813) of the children in the analytic sample experienced the breakup of their parents’ marriage during the 5 years between 1987–1988 and 1992–1994. Almost half of those children also experienced the custodial mother’s remarriage (48) or cohabitation (46) before the second wave. We include three measures of economic resources: (1) total household income, (2) income relative-to-needs and (3) home ownership. Total household income includes the annual income of all household members obtained from all sources (i.e., wages and salaries, public assistance, child support). We converted household income into 1992 dollars. The income-to-needs ratio is computed by dividing gross household income by the poverty thresholds established by the United States Bureau of the Census.4 An income-to-needs ratio at or below 1 indicates that the household is officially poor, while an income-to-needs ratio 3 Sample attrition was higher among nonwhites—particularly Hispanics—and among those with low levels of schooling. Separate analyses revealed few differences between respondents and nonrespondents on measures of family resources and expectations about divorce in 1987–1988. 4 These thresholds are based on the size of the household and the number of children under age 18. We used household size rather than family size as the basis for the poverty thresholds. Thus, we include the income and consumption of nonfamily members (i.e., unmarried partners, grandmothers) in determining the standard of living. WINDOWS ON DIVORCE 333 SSR625 @xyserv1/disk4/CLS_jrnlkz/GRP_ssrj/JOB_ssrj27-3/DIV_231a04 debb