The effect of Family Structure in Adolescence on Adulthood Education, Earnings and Employment.

Currently in the United States, there is an extreme shift away from traditional family structure: Divorce rates are increasing, marriage rates are decreasing, and there is an increase emergence in cohabitation. As a result the future generation of America is going to grow up in situations vast differently than their parents. Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, I estimate the effects of family structure in adolescence on education, employment and earnings in adulthood. In order to reduce bias due to sample attrition over time, this study uses the Heckman Selection model, while the problem of unobserved heterogeneity was addressed with various controls. Results suggest that family structure has the most significant impact in adulthood education. Compared with growing up in two biological parent homes, growing up in either two parent homes with only one biological parent or cohabiting parents substantially decreases the likelihood of an individual graduating college. Family structure in adolescence, however, seems to have no significant effects on adulthood employment and earnings after education is controlled for.