ESRI Research Seminar: Absent Parents, Absent Siblings: Two Sides of Lone Parenthood for Children

Venue: ESRI, Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2

The seminar will be given by Professor Tony Fahey, UCD.

Abstract: Children in lone parent families typically experience varying degrees of parental absence but it is less often noted that they also typically experience varying degrees of sibling absence: they are more likely to be sole offspring or to have fewer siblings than children of stable unions. The effects of parental absence and low sibling numbers on child well-being have been examined as distinct issues in research and have been found to work in opposite directions. Parental absence is usually thought to have negative effects on child outcomes but low sibling numbers are usually thought to concentrate parental resources and improve children’s outcomes, though perhaps not when numbers fall to a single child. Using data on nine year-olds from the Growing Up in Ireland survey, this paper examines the extent and pattern of sibling absence among children in lone parent families and assesses its effects, both for the individual child and in regard to compositional effects on the population.