Table 1.
Studies of the effects of father absence on education
| Reference | Outcomesa | Type of analysisb |
Family types compared | Data sourcesc | Age when outcomes observed |
Country of data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test scores | ||||||
| Aughinbaugh et al. (2005) | Math ability (N), reading ability (N) | Growth curves, IFE | Married versus divorced, single versus got married | NLSY79 CNLSY79 | 4--15 in 1986--2000 | USA |
| Bachman et al. (2009) | Math ability (N), reading ability (N) | IFE | Single versus got married versus started cohabiting | Three-city study | 10--16 in 1999--2001 | USA |
| Cherlin et al. (1991) | Reading ability (N), math ability (Y) | LDV | Divorced versus married | NCDS NSC | Age 11 in 1969 | Great Britain, USA |
| Cooper et al. (2011) | Reading ability (Y for LDV, N for IFE) | LDV, IFE | Number of transitions into/out of relationships | FFCWS | 3--5 in 2001--2005 | USA |
| Foster & Kalil (2007) | Reading ability (N) | IFE | Two bio, single-mother, step, or multigenerational | CCDP | 2--5 in 1990--1996 | USA |
| Hofferth (2006) | Math ability (Y), reading ability (Y) | SFE | Bio versus stepfather | PSID | 6--12 in 1997 | USA |
| Magnuson & Berger (2009) | Math ability (Y), reading ability (Y) | Growth curves | Two bio, single-mother, or step | CNLSY79 | 5--12 in 1986--2002 | USA |
| Morrison & Cherlin (1995) | Reading ability (N) | LDV | Two bio parents versus disrupted | NLSY79 | Average age 5--8 in 1986--1988 | USA |
| Sanz-de-Galdeano & Vuri (2007) | Math ability (Y), reading ability (N), science ability (N), and social studies ability (N) | LDV | Two bio parents versus disrupted | NELS | 15--18 in 1990--1992 | USA |
| Shaff et al. (2008) | Math ability (Y for never married, N for divorced), reading ability (Y) | Growth curves | Repartnering after divorce or nonmarital birth | CNLSY79 | 5--18 in 1986--1996 | USA |
| Sun (2001) | Math ability (Y), reading ability (Y), educational aspirations (N), school engagement (N) | LDV | Two bio versus divorced | NELS | 15--18 in 1990--1992 | USA |
| Sun & Li (2002) | Math ability (Y), reading ability (Y), science ability (Y), social studies ability (Y), educational aspirations (Y) | Growth curves | Two bio versus divorced | NELS | 13--18 in 1988--1992 | USA |
| Educational attainment | ||||||
| Biblarz & Gottainer (2000) | Educational attainment (Y) | Natural experiment: parental death | Divorced versus widowed | GSS | 18+ in 1972--1996 | USA |
| Björklund & Sundström (2006) | Educational attainment (N) | SFE | Two bio parents (including cohabiting) versus not | National Registry | 33--48 in 1996 | Sweden |
| Björklund et al. (2007) | Educational attainment (N) | SFE | Two bio parents (including cohabiting) versus not | NLSY79 PSID Registry | NLSY ages 24- -34 in 1994, PSID ages 23--33 in 1993, Sweden 26--36 in 1996 | USA, Sweden |
| Case & Ardington (2006) | Educational attainment, school performance (N for father death, Y for mother death) | Natural experiment: parental death | Parental death versus no death | DSA Survey and South African Census | 6--16 in 2003--2004 | South Africa |
| D’Onofrio et al. (2006) | Educational attainment (Y) | Twins | Divorced versus married (MZ versus DZ twins) | Australian National Twin Registry | 14--39 in 1992--1993 | Australia |
| Ermisch & Francesconi (2001) | Educational attainment (Y for disruption age 0-- 5, N for disruption age 6+) | SFE | Two bio parents (including cohabiting) versus not | BHPS | 18--29 in 1999 | Great Britain |
| Ermisch et al. (2004) | Educational attainment (Y for disruption < age 11, N for disruption age 11+) | SFE | Two bio parent versus not | BHPS | 18--29 in 1999 | Great Britain |
| Finlay & Neumark (2010) | educational attainment (N) | Other: IV (incarceration rates) | Married versus never-married mothers | Decennial Census | 15--17 in 1970--2000 | USA |
| Francesconi et al. (2010) | Educational attainment (N), school performance (N) | SFE, Propensity score, natural experiment: divorce law, natural experiment: parental death | Two bio parents versus not, exposed to reformed divorce law versus not, parental death versus divorce versus married | German Socio- Economic Panel | Age 14 in 1984--2005 | Germany |
| Gennetian (2005) | Educational attainment (Y) | SFE | Two bio nonblended family versus single-mother, step, or blended family | NLSY79 CNLSY79 | 5--10 in 1986--1994 | USA |
| Gertler et al. (2004) | Educational attainment (Y) | Propensity score | Parental death versus no death | Susenas | 6--20 in 1994--1996 | Indonesia |
| Ginther & Pollak (2004) | Educational attainment (N), math ability (N), reading ability (N) | SFE | Two bio parent versus stepparent | PSID | 5--15 in 1994 | USA |
| Gruber (2004) | Educational attainment (Y) | Natural experiment: divorce law | Exposed to reformed divorce law versus not | Decennial Census | 20--50 in 1960, 1970, 1980, or 1990 Census | USA |
| Lang & Zagorsky (2001) | Educational attainment (N), AFQT test (N) | Natural experiment: parental death | Parental death versus divorce versus married | NLSY79 | 22--36 in 1993 | USA |
| Manski et al. (1992) | Educational attainment (Y) | Other: latent variable, nonparametric c models | Two bio parents versus not | NLSY79 | Age 20 in 1979--1985 | USA |
| Sandefur & Wells (1999) | Educational attainment (Y) | SFE | Two bio parents versus single parent | NLSY79 | 27--35 in 1992 | USA |
| Steele et al. (2009) | Educational attainment (N) | Natural experiment: parental death | Parental death versus divorce versus married | Norwegian Population registers | 16--29 in 2003 | Norway |
| Attitudes, performance, and engagement | ||||||
| Astone & McLanahan (1991) | Educational aspirations (N), school engagement (Y), school performance (N) | LDV | Two bio parents (including cohabitating) versus not | HS&B | 16--19 in 1980--1982 | USA |
| Brown (2006) | School engagement (N) | LDV | Two bio parents (including cohabiting), single-mother, married stepfamily, cohabiting stepfamily | Add Health | 12--20 in 1994--1996 | USA |
| Evenhouse & Reilly (2004) | School engagement (N), school performance (Y for GPA, N for repeated a grade) | SFE | Two bio parent versus stepparent | Add Health | 12--18 in 1994 | USA |
| Frisco et al. (2007) | School performance (Y for GPA, Y for courses failed, N for math courses completed) | Propensity score | Two bio parents versus single parent | Add Health | 12--20 in 1994--1996 | USA |