According to a new working paper from the United States Census Bureau, nearly one-third of Americans born between 1988 and 1993 experienced their parents’ divorce before reaching adulthood, causing severe negative impacts on their future economic outcomes.
Notably, the parental divorce rate among Americans in this birth cohort varied significantly by race, with 45 percent of Black children experiencing their parents’ divorce, compared to about 30 percent of both White and Hispanic children and 17 percent of Asian children.
The authors found divorce in early childhood reduced children’s income in their mid-to-late 20s by 9 percent to 13 percent. Teen birth rates among children of divorce jumped 63 percent after their parents’ split, compared to pre-divorce levels. Children of divorced parents also had a higher risk of dying before age 25, higher incarceration rates, and a lower likelihood of living away from home while attending college. These outcomes were even worse among children whose parents divorced before they reached age 5, compared to older siblings.
The paper also found divorce disrupts key aspects of parenting, resulting in lower household incomes, increased working hours, and higher chances of moving – especially into lower-income neighborhoods. Furthermore, divorce increased the average distance between children and their nonresident parent by 100 miles on average, a gap that widened to over 200 miles after 10 years.
Considering Black children are the most likely group to experience parental divorce, addressing the impact of this family disruption may be important to reducing the persistent racial wealth disparities in the United States.
