Does Marriage Still Make a Difference in Infant Health?

Ji Yan

Eastern Economic Journal, 2025, vol. 51, issue 2, No 4, 246-267

Abstract: Abstract Although a vast literature examines the effects of family structure on school-aged children, adolescents and adults, less attention has been paid to infants. We use a longitudinal sample to disentangle the marriage effects from unobserved fixed characteristics of the mother and various observed confounders. Results from standard cross-sectional regressions tend to overstate the marriage premium. The within-mother analysis shows marriage leads to a small increase in birth weight but still fairly large declines in the risks of low birth weight and small for gestational age. Abstaining from smoking and having early prenatal care help explain how marriage improves infant health.

Keywords: Marriage; Infant health; Low birth weight; Prenatal care; Smoking; I10; I12; J12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41302-024-00284-3

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