Joint Child Custody and Interstate Migration

Abi Adams, Oguz Bayraktar, Thomas H. Jørgensen, Hamish Low and Alessandra Voena
Additional contact information
Abi Adams: Northwestern University
Oguz Bayraktar: Department of Economics, University of Bath
Thomas H. Jørgensen: Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen
Hamish Low: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Alessandra Voena: Stanford University

No 25-16, CEBI working paper series from University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI)

Abstract: Joint custody following divorce is widespread, but implementation is costly when individuals live in different states and so affects interstate mobility. Migration of separated fathers has fallen significantly more than married fathers. We show the causal effect of joint custody using two strategies. First, we survey separated parents to elicit beliefs about the likelihood of interstate moves. Second, we use the staggered adoption of joint custody laws across US states, and show a reduction in actual migration of 11 percentage points for fathers. For mothers, there is no impact on mobility but suggestive evidence of beneficial labor market outcomes.

Keywords: Migration; Child Custody; Divorce. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 J13 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41
Date: 2025-12-22
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kud:kucebi:2516

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