Lut, Irina; (2024) What can administrative data tell us about the impact of family structure on child health? Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Preview

Text IL Doctoral Thesis Final.pdf - Accepted Version Download (14MB) | Preview

Abstract

Background: Research suggests children in single-parent families have poorer health outcomes than children with coupled parents. The evidence base is limited by unclear and inconsistent terminology around single parenthood. An underestimation of diversity among families and the value of fathers also hinders our understanding of mechanisms driving child health disparities by family structure. Most evidence has relied on cross-sectional or longitudinal survey data but using administrative data may help address unanswered questions in this field. Methods: I systematically synthesised evidence on the association between single parenthood and child health. I systematically reviewed methods for linking fathers and children in administrative data globally to determine how this might be achieved in England. I used a linked administrative birth cohort including all births in England between 2005-2014 to examine how registration status, a measure of family structure, changes between consecutive births to the same mother, and how maternal characteristics and baby’s birthweight vary by registration status. Results: Compared to children with coupled parents, children in single-parent families have higher risks of adverse birth outcomes, mortality, and healthcare use. Four methods are employed for linking paternal and child records in administrative data globally. Changes to data collection are recommended to replicate this at the national level in England. Single-mother families at index birth have more family structure changes over time than coupled families. Maternal characteristics including socioeconomic status explain some of the higher risk for low birthweight among babies born to single mothers compared to married mothers. Conclusion: To effectively support families, and advance family research, several key areas require further attention: (1) heterogeneity of parent- and family-level characteristics within family structures (2) temporal components of family structure (3) paternal characteristics and contributions to child health across all family structures. The use of administrative data and linkage data can provide opportunities for advancing research in this area.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item