Does Parents ’ Union Instability Disrupt Intergenerational Advantage? An Analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa

AbstractThe long arm of childhood, with its wide-ranging influence on individuals ’ life chances, highlights the importance of understanding the determinants of health in early life. Research has established that parents’ education is a major determinant of childhood health, but children across the globe increasingly experience their parents’ divorce and subsequent remarria ge, raising questions of whether union instability alters these intergenerational processes. Does divorce and remarriage interfere with parents’ education benefiting their young children’s health? I explore this question in sub-Saharan Africa, a world region where parents’ education plays a ma jor role in protecting children against severe health risks, and where young children commonly experience parental divorce and remarriage. Moreover, sub-Saharan Africa features distinct family lineage systems, affording an opportunity to explore this question in both majority matrilineal and patrili neal contexts. Analyses of Demographic and Health Survey data on 271,292 children in 30 sub-Saharan African countries offer no evidence that the high levels of union instability in the region will weaken the health benefits of parents’ education for future generations. Following divorce, children benefit from their biological parents’ education to the same degree as children with married parents—a finding that is consistent across lineage contexts. Moreover, stepfathers’ education corresponds with pron...

Source: Demography - February 6, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research