A major study examining the records of over five million children over a
period of fifty years shows the impact of divorce on children.
Entitled
Divorce, Family Arrangements, and Children's Adult Outcomes, the study
was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER.org) in
May 2025. The authors are Andrew Johnston, Maggie Jonas, and Nolan Pope.
Key points:
- Contrary to the slogan that 'an unhappy household
is worse than divorce', the study found that divorce damages children's
lives even more.
- Compared to children whose parents stay married, children whose parents get divorced are:
60% more likely to become pregnant in their teens.
40% more likely to be imprisoned.
45% more likely to die prematurely.
9-13% more likely to have a lower adult income.
Less likely to complete higher education.
- The younger a child is when their parents divorce, the worse the outcomes.
-
Damage is caused by a chain reaction of falling incomes, increased
parental work hours, moving to worse neighbourhoods and shattered
stability.
Further unseen factors include emotional stress and family breakdown, which disrupt a child’s sense of belonging and trust.
- Half of all divorced parents remarry within five years, introducing step-parents and step-siblings into the home.
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