Motherhood and domestic violence: A longitudinal study using population - wide administrative data

Sanna Bergvall and Nuria Rodriguez-Planas ()
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Sanna Bergvall: University of the Gothenburg
Nuria Rodriguez-Planas: Queens College – CUNY & IZA, University of Barcelona & IEB

No 2024/09, Working Papers from Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB)

Abstract: Most empirical studies indicate that becoming a mother is an augmenting factor for the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV). Using rich population-wide hospital records data from Sweden, we conduct a stacked DiD analysis comparing the paths of women two years before and after the birth of their first child with same-age women who are several quarters older when giving birth to their first child and find that, in contrast to the consensus view, violence sharply decreases with pregnancy and motherhood. This decline has both a short-term and longer-term component, with the temporary decline in IPV covering most of the pregnancy until the child is 6 months old, mimicking a temporary decrease in hospital visits for alcohol abuse by the children’s fathers. The more persistent decline is driven by women who leave the relationship after the birth of the child. Our evidence is not supportive of alternative mechanisms including suspicious hospitalizations, an overall reduction in hospital visits or selection in seeking medical care, mothers’ added value as the main nurturer, or mothers’ drop in relative earnings within the household. Our findings suggest the need to push for public health awareness campaigns underscoring the risk of victimization associated with substance abuse and to also provide women with more support to identify and leave a violent relationship.

Keywords: Motherhood; stacked Difference-in-Differences model; event study; individual fixed effects; administrative longitudinal records data; population-wide estimates. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-hea
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