'Mommy, I miss daddy'. The effect of family structure on children's health in Brazil

The effect of social fathers on the cognitive skills of out-of-wedlock children in the U.S

There are two competing views regarding the presence of social fathers on childrens' cognitive ability: (1) either the social father provides more financial resources which benefit the children or (2) the mother with new partners may shift the focus away from the children. Previous research focused on older children or adolescents and ignored the self-selection problem. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), and a sample of younger children. Using propensity score matching method (nonparametric methods), we find that children with social fathers scored around three points less in a cognitive ability test than children living only with biological mothers (assuming that self-selection is based on observables). The result remains robust when using a control-function analysis (parametric method).

Sex of children and family structure in Brazil: father & grandmother bias?

Brazil has a high rate of mothers living without a partner as well as a high intergenerational co-residence rate, including parents and grandparents. These family types may influence a child's well-being. Even though there is no evidence of sex-selective abortion in Brazil, sex preference could still be subtly present. This paper tests the composition of family structure (father co-residence, grandmother co-residence, and birth of siblings) in Brazil associated with the sex of the child by using a nationally representative household survey, treating sex of the first and second child as exogenous variables in OLS regressions. I found women with lower birth-order daughters are less likely to live with a partner. I also found suggestive evidence that maternal grandmothers are more likely to live with granddaughters than with grandsons. Women with lower birth-order daughters are more likely to have additional children. Evidence suggests that in Brazil, fathers show a preference for sons over daughters, while grandmothers show a preference for granddaughters over grandsons. Additionally, mothers of girls, without co-residing partners may compensate for the economic loss caused by their lack of partner by living with their own mother. This contributes to the literature on child sex preferences, which has mostly focused on males (fathers); I have analyzed data on grandmothers to include females.