Parental Unions, Parental Transfers and Child Well-Being

描述(由申请人提供)：随着最近人口结构的变化，如单亲母亲和同居率的增加，由已解除婚姻关系的父母抚养的子女数量正在增加。许多先前的研究报告说，这些孩子相对于那些与连续结婚的父母生活在一起的孩子来说处于不利地位。为什么解散的工会的子女的福祉会受到损害，人们并不是很清楚。这一不利因素部分归因于亲生父母糟糕的社会经济环境。然而，很少有研究系统地调查其他潜在的贡献者。经济/进化理论和家庭结构理论提出了另外两个但截然不同的贡献者。经济学/进化论认为，从继父或继母那里转移的资源数量小于从亲生父母那里转移的资源数量。他们还表明，来自继父或继母的资源对孩子的幸福感影响相对较小。家庭结构理论表明，父母结合的类型(例如，再婚)会降低父母转移子女对子女福祉的程度和有益影响。关于父母转移的数量和影响是否因父母类型或父母结合类型不同而不同的调查，对代际转移和家庭理论以及社会政策具有重大影响。该项目的目标是调查：(A)儿童从父母那里获得的钱的数量和儿童与父母在一起的时间是否按父母的组成/类型或联盟类型存在差异，并控制父母和孩子的特征；以及(B)父母的一美元或与父母共处一分钟的有益影响是否按父母结构/类型或联盟类型对儿童的认知/学习健康产生差异。离婚子女和非婚子女将被分开分析。为了实现这些目标，将结合1968-2001年收入动态研究小组的核心数据，分析1997-2001年全国儿童发展协会1997-2001年队列和1997-2001年儿童发展补充资料。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The number of children raised by parents whose unions have dissolved is increasing with the recent demographic shifts, such as the increase in the rates of single motherhood and cohabitation. Quite a few previous studies report that these children are disadvantaged relative to children who live with continuously married parents. Why the well-being of the children of dissolved unions is compromised is not well known. The disadvantage has been partly attributed to the biological parents' poor socioeconomic circumstances. However, few studies have systematically investigated other potential contributors. Economic/evolutionary theories and a structural theory of the family suggest two additional, but contrasting, contributors. The economic/evolutionary theories suggest that the amount of resources transferred from a step-parent is smaller than the amount of transferred from a biological parent. They also suggest that resources from step-parents have relatively little beneficial impact on child well-being. A structural theory of the family implies that the type of parental union in which the children of dissolved unions are placed (e.g., a remarriage) diminishes the level, and the beneficial impact, of parental transfers on the well-being of children. An investigation of whether the amount and the impact of parental transfers differ by parent type or parental union type has major implications for theories of intergenerational transfers and the family, and for social policy. The goals of this project are to examine: a) whether there are differentials in the amount of money children receive from parents and the amount of time children spend with parents by parent composition/type or union type, controlling for the parents' and children's characteristics; and b) whether there are differentials in the beneficial impact of a dollar from parents, or a minute spent with a parent, on the cognitive/academic well-being of children by parent composition/type or union type. Children of divorce and children of non-marriage will be analyzed separately. The NLSY, 1997 cohort, 1997-2001, and the Child Development Supplement, 1997-2001, combined with the core data of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, 1968-2001, will be analyzed to accomplish these goals.