October 2011

IZA DP No. 6092: The Effects of Children's ADHD on Parents' Relationship Dissolution and Labor Supply

published as 'The importance of children's ADHD for parents' relationship stability and labor supply' in: Social Science and Medicine, 2013, 88, 30-38

This paper uses Danish register-based data for the population of children born in 1990-1997 to investigate the effects on parents of having a child with attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD). Ten years after birth, parents of children diagnosed with ADHD have a 75% higher probability of having dissolved their relationship and a 7-13% lower labor supply. Exploiting detailed information about documented risk factors behind ADHD, we find that roughly half of this gap is due to selection. However, a statistically and economically significant gap is left, which is likely related to the impact of high psychic costs of coping with a child with ADHD.