Chapter 11effect on both men and women. But how does it affect their
children?
ALSPAC provides clear unemployment data only on the
fathers of the children and shows that this can have a criti-
cal effect on children’s development. There are many chan-
nels through which this can work— via the parents’ mood,
family conflict, reduced aspirations, taunting at school, and
simple loss of income.^11
In Table 11.4 we look at the effect, holding family conflict
and income constant. One thing is very clear. Like all eco-
nomic variables, father’s unemployment has a substantial
and well- measured effect on academic performance. Its net
effect on behavior and emotional health is less well- defined.^12
But when we reduce the number of other influences we
hold constant, the gross “effect” of father’s unemployment
on behavior (i.e., holding nothing else constant) becomes
negative, owing to the indirect effect of unemployment
through reduced income and increased family conflict. And
the negative effect on emotional well- being also becomes
even more negative, for the same reasons (see online Table
A11.2).
Table 11.4. How children’s outcomes are affected by father’s
unemployment (0– 1) (ALSPAC)Effects on standardized
outcome at Emotional Behavioral Intellectual
16 −0.29 (.18) −0.01 (.16) −0.23 (.06)
11 −0.23 (.12) 0.02 (.12) −0.15 (.06)
5 −0.03 (.07) −0.04 (.06) −0.01 (.05)