Social And Health Outcomes Around Divorce: Evidence From New Zealand
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Dasgupta, Kabir
Johnston, Andrew
Kirkpatrick, Linda
Massenkoff, Maxim
Plum, Alexander
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Working Paper
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NBER
Abstract
How does family breakdown and divorce affect spouses and their children? We provide new evidence using a matched difference-in-differences design in rich administrative data from New Zealand. While most outcomes remain stable prior to separation, parents' mental health deteriorates in the lead-up. At separation, men's employment falls while women's rises, and women become much more likely to receive government benefits. Men temporarily double their criminal offending; about a third of the increase is domestic disputes. Both parents become more likely to be the victim of non-domestic crime as well. As for mental health, parents become more anxious and depressed at separation, and these remain elevated well after the couple has parted. Their children, too, face increased risks after separation: anxiety, depression, school absenteeism, and crime victimization all rise.Description
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NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH (NBER )Working Papers Series. May 2025. Working Paper 33873. http://www.nber.org/papers/w33873
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NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications. © 2025 by Kabir Dasgupta, Andrew C. Johnston, Linda Kirkpatrick, Maxim N. Massenkoff, and Alexander Plum. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source.