Single Mother’s Unemployment Experiences After a Job Placement: Children’s Educational and Psychological Outcomes

PWP-CCPR-2014-008

Abstract

Job displacement leads to unemployment, but the length of unemployment following a displacement varies substantially. Job losses negatively affect child outcomes, but little is known about the effects of the aftermath of job losses on children. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979’s weekly employment indicators, this study examines variations in single mothers’ unemployment following a job displacement, and looks at the effects on children’s educational outcomes (high school completion, college attendance, college completion) and psychological outcomes (using scale of depression). Using logistic regression and propensity score matching models, I find that increased unemployment time following a job displacement significantly affects children’s chances of high school completion. However, no effects are seen for college attendance and completion, and some models show a decrease in children’s depression in their late twenties, suggesting that unemployment following a job displacement may not be as detrimental to child wellbeing as might be expected.