Children’s family structure trajectories in the global context. Family policy is often developed from the default framework of the nuclear family, but my research establishes that this is not the experience of about half the children within the majority world. Using data from four countries, I show that many children, particularly first-born children, start life in households with coresident grandparents, and then transition out of the grandparents’ residence. I research the influence of family members on child development by examining household transitions instead of cross-sectional correlations. In Peru, a separation from the father is associated with worse educational outcomes, while a separation from the grandparents household results in better educational outcomes, probably because the grandparents were not as well-educated. Father absence is also quite common in Latin America, but what is not typically considered is biological fathers joining the household: in Chile, 15% of young children in households without fathers have biological fathers enter the household within 2 years. Unlike in Peru, father presence was not associated with child development scores, likely due to the overall higher level of education.
Selected Papers
a. Cakouros, B, & Reynolds, S. (2022) Household Structure Across Childhood in Four Lower- and Middle-Income Countries. Demographic Research. 47, 143-160.
b. Reynolds, S, Fernald, L, Deardorff, J, & Behrman, J. (2018). Family structure and child development in Chile: A longitudinal analysis of household transitions involving fathers and grandparents. Demographic Research, 38, 1777-1814. PMC6430138
c. Reynolds S. Household transitions between ages 5 and 15 and educational outcomes: Fathers and grandparents in Peru. Demographic Research. 2022 Mar 15;46(14):397–440.
d. Halim, D, Perova, E & Reynolds, S. (2022) Childcare and women’s labor market participation in lower- and middle-income countries: Policies and impact. The World Bank Research Observer.