The Long-Term Effects of Unilateral Divorce Laws on the Noncognitive Skill of Conscientiousness

Hayduk Iryna () and Kristin Kleinjans
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Hayduk Iryna: College of Business, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA, 30260-0285, USA

The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2023, vol. 23, issue 4, 1137-1154

Abstract: This paper provides the first causal evidence of the effect of a change in divorce laws on noncognitive skills in adulthood. We exploit state-cohort variation in the adoption of unilateral divorce laws in the U.S. to assess whether children exposed to this law have different noncognitive skills in adulthood compared to those never exposed or exposed as adults. Using data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the U.S. (MIDUS) and employing the staggered difference-in-differences identification strategy developed by Callaway and Sant’Anna, we show that divorce reform had a detrimental long-term effect on the conscientiousness of those who were exposed as children whether their parents divorced or not. Changes in parental inputs can explain most of the effect, which is greatest for men whose parents divorced.

Keywords: noncognitive skills; unilateral divorce laws; conscientiousness; parenting style; MIDUS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J13 J24 K36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2022-0365

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