Effects of Mental Health on Couple Relationship Status

Nancy E. Reichman, Hope Corman and Kelly Noonan

No 19164, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We exploit the occurrence of postpartum depression (PPD), which has a random component according to the medical community, to estimate causal effects of a salient form of mental illness on couples' relationship status. We estimate single-equation models as well as bivariate probit models that address the endogeneity of PPD. We find that this relatively prevalent mental illness reduces the probability the couples are married (by 22-24%) as well the probability that they are living together (married or cohabiting) (by 24-26%) three years after the birth of the child. Models stratified by relationship status at the time of the birth indicate that PPD makes it more likely that unions dissolve (particularly among baseline cohabitors) and less likely that unions are formed (particularly among baseline non-cohabitors). The findings contribute to the literature on the effects of mental illness on relationships and to the broader literature on socioeconomic status and health.

JEL-codes: I10 J12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-hea
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Published as Reichman, N., Corman, H., Noonan, K. (2014). Effects of Maternal Depression on Couple Relationship Status. Review of Economics of the Household (in press; available online ahead of print).

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